Jolin  li.  --o^^lting 


Defence  of  the  Convention 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  in  the  stpte  of 
Massachusetts  .,   • 


4H7 


g^^'^^'pS?5?5?> 


"^^^o^Aimi^'' 


\  ^i  ri "/ 


v:.^^  -■  '^///^ 


DEFENCE 


CONVENTION 


PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH, 


IN  THE  STATE  OF  MASSACHUSETTS, 


AGAINST  CERTAIN    EDITORIAL  STATEMENTS 


OF    THE    PAPER,    CALLED 


THE    BANNER   OF    THE    CHURCH' 


V^v 


^a>V. 


BOSTON: 

STIMPSON  &  CLAPP,  72  WASHINGTON  STREET. 

18  3  2. 


3J.  3S.  JSincfelcs  &  do.,  i)rintera, 

NO.    14,    WATER    STREET. 


DEFENCE. 


To  the  Clergy,  Laity  and  Friends  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 

Church. 

For  the  first  time  in  his  life,  the  undersigned  is  compelled  to 
become  party  to  a  controversy.  Arraigned,  together  with 
many  others,  before  the  public,  upon  the  editorial  authority  of 
two  of  his  clerical  brethren,  he  has  been  advised  and  requested 
by  those  whose  judgment  lie  respects,  and  by  one  especially, 
whose  character  and  office  entitle  him  to  peculiar  reverence,  to 
write  the  present  statement,  as  a  defence  against  grievous  mis- 
representation. He  would  not  have  undertaken  so  painful  a 
task,  on  his  single  conviction  of  its  propriety.  He  knows  the 
evils  of  dissension  too  well,  and  deplores  its  mischievous  efi'ects 
too  deeply,  to  enter  into  it,  however  provoked,  for  his  own 
sake  alone.  But  when  called  to  sustain  the  truth,  in  a  case 
v^hich  not  only  affects  the  reputation  of  many  amongst  his 
friends  and  brethren,  but  which  implicates  the  government  of 
the  church,  and  the  just  influence  of  his  Bishop,  he  does  not 
consider  himself  at  "liberty  to  shrink  from  the  claim  of  duty, 
however  distasteful  the  requisition  to  his  habits  and  feelings. " 

The  subject  matter  of  remark,  was  presented  by  the  publica- 
tion of  an  editorial  article  in  the  paper  called  the  '  Banner  of 
the  Church,'  issued  on  the  30th  of  June  last,  and  detailing,  at 
great  length,  and  with  extraordinary  asperity,  the  doings  of  the 
Massachusetts  Episcopal  Convention,  held  in  Boston  on  the 
20th  and  21st  days  of  the  same  month.     The  author  of  this 


account  styled  it  a  Manifesto,  but  whatever  its  appellation  might 
be,  we  regret  to  say  that  its  character  was  libellous,  inasmuch 
as 'it  charged  seventeen  members  of  the  Convention  by  name, 
together  with  several  others  who  were  not  specified,  with  con- 
duct unbecoming  their  profession,  not  only  as  Christians,  but  as 
honest  and  honorable  men.     The  intemperance  of  this  pubhca- 
tion,  however,  was  thought  a  sufficient  protection  from  the 
assault.     It  was  believed  that  no  mind  of  common  discernment 
could  fail  to  perceive  the  high  coloring  of  personal  excitement 
which  marked  it  throughout,  and  it  was  presumed  that  silence 
would  be  its  best  reply.     As  friends  to  the  peace  and  reputa- 
tion of  the  church,  the  accused  have  reason  to  lament  that  then- 
expectations  were  disappointed.     Tlie  work  which  they  thought 
it  needless  to  do  for   themselves,  others  did  for  them,  and  a 
popular  gazette  of  the  day  was  unhappily  occupied  by  both 
sides  of  the   question.     At  length  it  was   found  that  a  most 
respectable  gentleman  of  Pittsfield,  Edward  A.  Newton,  Esq. 
a  member  of  the  Convention,  and  high  in  the  esteem  of  the  Epis- 
copal community,  had  conceived  it  expedient  to  visit  several  ot 
the  parishes,  and  obtain  the  signatures  of  fourteen  clergymen  to 
a  letter  addressed  to  the  Delegates  elected  to  the  General  Con- 
vention, advising  that  three  of  them  should  resign  in  favor  ot 
certain  others  who  were  not  elected,  but  who,  it  was  alleged, 
ought  to  have  been ;  and  threatening  in  very   kindly,  but  very 
substantial  terms,  that  if  this  overture  of  peace  was  rejected, 
the  future  conventions  of  the  Church,  should  exhibit  a  warfare, 
in  which  the  subscribers  to  the  letter  promised  themselves  a 

certain  victory. 

The  gentleman  who  distinguished  himseli  by  his  zeal  in  this 
novel  proposition,  did  not  stop  at  this  point,  but  undertook, 
very  sincerely  no  doubt,  to  be  a  voucher  for  the  truth  ot  the 
'Manifesto,'  professing  his  entire  conviction  that  the  charges 
recorded  in  it  were  correct.     This,  to  the  parties  accused,  was 
a  painful  surprise  indeed,  and  showed  them  that  the  extent  of 
the  mischief  was  far  greater  than  they  could  have  anticipated. 
It  was  not  enough  that  they  had  quietly  borne  the  attack  ot  their 
clerical  brethren.     It  was  not  enough  that  fourteen  clergymen 
should  dictate  terms  of  complete  submission  to  the  Delegates 
elected  by  the  Convention  of  the  Church.     It  was  not  enough 
that  two  of  the  clergy,  who  signed  this  letter,  were  not  even 
present  at  that  Convention,  and  that  several  of  them,  m  age,  m 
experience,  and  in  the   ministerial  office,   were   many  years 


younger  than  the  men  to  whom  they  thus  voiunteeied  their 
unprecedented  counsel.  All  this  was  hard  enough,  but  in 
addition  to  It  all,  the  parties  accused,  discovered  that  they  had 
a  new  and  active  accuser;  a  gentleman,  whose  leisure,  whose 
influence,  and  whose  warm  inclination  to  use  it,  made  him 
truly,  a  serious  antagonist.  The  more  especially,  as  the  author 
01  he  Manifesto  had  given  him  a  very  uncommon  character, 
declaring  that  '  by  the  devotion  of  his  whole  fortune  to  the 
interests  and  service  of  the  Church,  and  by  the  exemplification 
of  her  prmcijyles  m  his  tvhole  life,  he  was  raised  above  the 
shadow  of  selfish  or  unworthy  imputation.'  This  intelligence, 
indeed,  the  writer  rejoiced  to  learn,  because  Mr.  Newton  is 
well  known  to  be  in  affluent  circumstances,  and  the  age  stands 
in  need  of  such  examples.  But  he  found  upon  inouiry,  that 
liowever  zealous  and  liberal  the  course  of  this  respected  gen- 
tleman had  conlessedly  been,  yet  the  statement  of  the  editor 
was,  to  say  the  least,  an  extravagant  exaggeration.  The  in- 
lerence  was  obvious,  that  the  Muses  had  presided  over  that 
sentence,  as  well  as  many  others  in  the  Manifesto;  but  the 
consistency  of  the  author  was  not  to  be  denied,  since  it  cer- 
tainly was  fair  that  his  readers  should  see  a  little  of  the  poetry 
ot  praise,  where  there  was  so  abundant  a  supply  of  the  poetry 
oi  censure.  ^        ^ 

Thus  assailed  by  reiterated  and  fresh  attacks,  the  accused 
are  compelled  at  last,  however  reluctantly,  to  believe  that  a 
defence  is  necessary.  In  order  to  present  this  defence  with 
perspicuity,  it  will  be  necessary  to  quote  from  the  '  Manifesto  ' 
the  several  points  on  which  the  parties  are  at  issue,  and  this  the 
writer  will  endeavor  to  perform  in  as  succinct  a  manner  as 
possible,  consistently  with  his  undertaking.  'To  the  railin- 
ol  the  accuser,'  in  the  words  of  the  admirable  Hooker,  he 
desires  to  '  sa)- nothhig.'  To  the  alleged  facts  and  arguments 
he  makes  the  following  reply. 

•  .!\TiT  ^'''Z  ^^'i^S^^'O"  °f  the  Manifesto,  demanding  notice, 
IS  Xh^i^  though  there  was  no  extraordinary  business  done  at 
the  Convention,  some  of  the  ordinary  business  was  done  in  an 
extraordinary  manner.'  It  will  be  shown  that,  on  the  very 
contrary,  the  business  done  was  transacted  in  the  ordinary 
manner,— the  manner  used  in  that  body  for  more  than  thirty 
years,  without  a  single  instance  to  the  contrary 

2.  The  second  is,  that  the  circumstances  connected  with 
the  elections  for  the  members  of  the  Standing  Committee  and 


6 

the  Delegates  to  the  General  Convention,  were  '  so  peculiar, 
so  wholly  unprecedented,  and  so  ominous  of  evil  to  the  Church, 
that  a  detailed  account  is  called  for.  The  evil  is  now  done,^ 
continues  the  Editor,  '  representations  of  it,  distorted  and  ex- 
aggerated, are  of  course  abroad.  There  should  he  somewhere, 
an  authentic  and  unquestionable  narrative.  Such  ours  shall 
he.  We  shall  state  facts,  and  only  such  as  can  be  siibstantiated 
by  legal  evidence.  We  meet  this  necessity  not  so  much  in  self- 
defence  as  for  the  benefit  of  others,  that  they  may  be  on  their 
guard  against  the  stratagems  which  we  have  been  compelled  to 
witness,  that  they  may  see,  that  when  injuries  so  sustained  can- 
not be  retrieved,  a  protest  may  at  lea^t  be  recorded.^ 

It  shall  be  shown  that  all  this  is  imaginary.  That  the  cir- 
cumstances connected  with  the  elections  were  of  the  common 
kind,  when  men  do  not  happen  to  agree  upon  the  same  can- 
didates. That  there  was  nothing  in  the  case  unprecedented, 
peculiar,  or  ominous  of  evil  to  the  Church.  That  no  evil  has 
been  done  by  the  accused,  and  that  no  good  end  has  been,  or 
could  be  served  by  this  Manifesto.  That  it  may  perhaps  be 
called  an  authentic  narrative,  because  its  paternity  belongs  to 
the  editors  of  the  '  Banner,'  but  that  it  is  the  very  reverse  of 
unquestionable.  That  its  author  has  not  confined  himself  to 
stcUing  facts  only,  but  that  the  observations  on  these  facts,  the 
sweeping  asseverations  and  general  imputations  of  the  piece, 
are  its  leading,  and  by  far  its  strongest  features.  That  many 
of  the  allegations  of  fact  are  unsupported  by  any  evidence,  and 
that  the  accuser  witnessed  no  stratagem,  and  sustained  no  in- 
jury, of  which  either  he,  or  any  other  man,  has  a  just  right  to 
complain. 

3.  The  Editor  proceeds  to  declare,  in  capital  letters,  that 
the  record  of  the  elections  is  not  a  true  expression  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Church  in  Massachusetts.  It  shall  be  shown  on 
the  plainest  Episcopal  principles,  that  this  declaration  is  a  total 
mistake. 

4.  The  next  paragraph  of  the  Editor  introduces  the 
reader  to  a  sketch  of  the  state  of  the  Church,  previous  to  the 
late  Convention,  in  which  he  avers  that  '  until  two  months  be- 
fore that  period,  nothing  tvas  heard  of  dissatisfaction  or  di- 
vision. There  appeared  to  be  a  perfect  unity  of  interest  in 
the  prosecution  of  the  affairs  of  the  Church.  The  persons,^  con- 
tinues he,  '  of  whom  we  now  complain,  were  sedulous  and  con- 
stant in  public  declarations,  that  we  ivere  all  united.^     By  at- 


tending  to  the  declarations  of  those  well  qualified  to  judee,  this 
statement  will  be  found  to  be  erroneous  and  visionary. 

5.  The  Editor  goes  on  to  mention  a  case  determined  by  the 
Standing  Committee  tuo  months  before  tiie  Convention,  which, 
he  admits,  produced  considerable  dissatisfaction.  He  declines 
detailing  the  particulars,  but  asserts  that  the  committee  de- 
cided, as  they  believed  '  conscientiously  according;  to  the  Ca- 
nons, that  menaces  of  '  reform '  were  made,  and  that  great 
pains  were  taken,  under  the  ^favorable  circumstances  of  an 
±.cclesiastical  visitation,  to  enlist  clerical  influence '  to  carry  it 
into  effect  This  decision  of  the  Standing  Committee  shall  be 
iully  detailed,  and  the  grounds  of  dissatisfaction  shown,  and  the 
allegation  about  enlisting  clerical  influence  under  the  circum- 
stances of  an  Ecclesiastical  visitation,  shall  be  distinctly  refuted 
by  the  testimony  annexed. 

6.  The  account  given  of  the  mode  in  which  die  Editor  says 
the^ tickets  were  formed  on  his  side  of  the  question,  as  exhib- 
ited in  contrast  with  the  conduct  of  Mr.  West,  shall  be  exam- 
ined, and  It  shall  be  shown,  by  the  very  state  of  the  votes,  on 
the  authority  of  the  «  Manifesto'  itself,  that  there  was  no  suffi- 
cient ground  for  the  accusation  o^  stratagem  or  concert. 

7.  Ihe  next  subject  presented  by  the  Editor  consists  of  a 
set  of  charges  purporting  to  be  founded  on  the  previous  state- 
ment of  facts,  accusing  the  majority  of  the  voters  of  beine 
organized  '  on  party  principles,'  of  entirely  ^  proscribins;  those  in 
xohom  former  conxentxom  had  reposed  their  confidenct,  of  con- 
certing ctnd  carrying  into  effect  their  design  secretly,  by  all  the 
aids  and  appliances  which,  in  political  xoarfare,  are  but  tol- 
erated  and  that  in  accomplishing  its  purposes,  neither  the  wel- 

Jareoj  the  Church,  nor  the  rights  of  parishes  and  individuals 
nor  the  proprieties  of  time  or  place  or  person  xcere  to  be  at  all 
regarded:  All  this,  with  much  more  of  the  same  kind,  will 
dation  ^°         S''^f"'tous  hyperbole,  without  any  just  foun- 

S.  The  Editor  next  asserts  that  acquiescence  in  these  elec- 
tions was  '  treason  to  the  Church.'  This  assertion  will  be  briefly 
tested,  by  Episcopal  principles.  ^ 

9.  The  Manifesto  proceeds  to  the  motion  made  to  annul  the 
elections,  on  the  ground  that  they  were   unconstitutional  and 

ih  5=°'""i^"^s,  severely  on  the  parliamentary  devices, 
quibbling,  &c,  by  which  this  motion  was  evaded,  settinp;  ouJ 
all  the  formality  of  names,  in  order  to  fix  the  personal  odium 


8 

of  the  course  taken,  upon  the  individuals  accused.  And  after 
arranging  the  votes  in  such  a  manner,  as  to  make  the  majority 
appear  to  be  the  minority,  and  repeating  the  charges  of  evil 
done  and  wrong  suffered,  the  Editor  concludes  by  applying  to 
the  accused  the  scriptural  text,  '  Every  one  that  doeth  evil 
bateth  the  light,  lest  his  deeds  should  be  reproved  ;  but  he  that 
doeth  truth'  (to  wit,  the  Editor,  we  presume,)  '  cometh  to  the 
light,  that  his  deeds  may  be  made  manifest  that  they  are 
wrought  in  God.'  All  this  will  be  easily  interpreted,  when 
compared  with  the  simple  facts  of  the  case,  and  cleared  from 
the  mists  of  rhetorical  amplification.  It  is  a  weary  road  to 
travel,  for  the  writer,  and,  it  may  be  feared,  for  his  readers; 
but  truth  demands  the  real  statement  of  the  question,  and,  hav- 
ing put  his  hand  to  the  plough,  he  will  not  look  back. 

To  commence  then,  with  our  history  ; — it  is  a  melancholy 
fact  that  for  two  or  three  years  past,  a  growing  disunion  had 
been  generated  in  the  Church  of  Massachusetts.  Of  this,  the 
present  writer  has  no  personal  knowledge,  because  his  connex- 
ion with  the  Eastern  Diocese  has  been  of  little  more  than  one 
year's  standing.  He  refers,  for  the  evidence  of  the  assertion,  to 
the  positive  declarations  of  others,  who  knew  and  deplored  the 
change.  He  can  only  say,  for  his  own  part,  that  before  he 
had  been  four  months  in  his  present  situation,  he  had  received 
abundant  proof,  that  the  boasted  unity  of  the  Church  in  this 
quarter,  was  sorely  defective.  That,  in  truth,  the  leading  cler- 
gymen were  not  united  in  sentiment  with  their  Ecclesiastical 
Head,  and  that  the  Bishop  did  not  govern  this  portion  of  his 
Diocese  with  that  comfort  and  harmony,  which  belongs  to  the 
theory  of  our  system,  and  without  the  exemphfication  of  which. 
Episcopacy  must  always  be  a  very  inefficient  institution. 

Several  instances  of  disagreement  between  the  views  of  the 
Bishop  and  the  leading  clergymen  in  the  Standing  Committee, 
were  detailed  to  the  writer,  which  fully  showed  the  unpleasant 
state  of  the  executive  department.  But  the  decisive  conflict 
of  opinion  occurred  in  the  case,  obscurely  alluded  to  in  the 
Manifesto,  at  the  meeting  of  the  Commhtee  in  April  last. 

The  facts  were  these.  Two  candidates  for  Holy  Orders, 
Messrs.  McBurney  and  Babcock,  were  induced  by  the  pressing 
wants  of  the  church  and  the  advice  of  their  friends  to  apply  for 
ordination.  They  had  been  entered  on  the  books  of  the  Bish- 
op more  than  two  years.  They  were  graduates  of  Harvard 
University,  of  good  standing,  and  some  years  older  than  the 


period  of  twenty-one,  which  the  Canon  requires.  The  Bishop, 
(the  same  who  has  presided  over  the  diocese  for  twenty  years, 
with  the  purest  character,)  had  appointed  a  committee  to  ex- 
amine them,  and  had  himself  assisted  at  the  examinations. 
They  were  found  qualified  and  worthy,  and  received,  as  they 
well  deserved,  certificates  testifying  their  fitness  for  the  sacred 
office.  The  Bishop  addressed  a  letter  to  the  clerical  mem- 
bers of  the  Standing  Committee,  stating  his  satisfaction,  and  re- 
questing them  to  concur  with  him  in  dispensing  with  the  re- 
niamder  of  the  three  years,  in  consideration  of  the  pressing 
wants  of  the  diocese,  there  being,  at  that  moment,  six  vacant 
parishes,  in  Massachusetts  alone.  Under  these  circumstances 
it  was,  that  the  two  clergymen,  then  composing  the  clerical  branch 
of  the  Standing  Committee,  thought  fit  to  refuse  their  consent, 
and  prevent  the  supply  of  these  suffering  parishes,  and  the  de- 
clared wishes  of  their  Diocesan. 

But  a  reason  is  assigned  for  this,  viz.  that  the  Canon  required 
three  years'  candidateship ;  and  therefore,  it  is  said,  that  these 
clergymen  were  only  obeying  the  law.  Do  they  mean  to  in- 
sinuate that  the  Bishop  wished  to  violate  the  law  ?  Does  not 
every  cleric  of  our  Church  know,  that  the  Canon  in  question 
expressly  gives  the  power  to  the  Bishop  to  dispense  with 
two  years  out  of  the  three,  whenever  he  shall  deem  it  expedient, 
provided  the  clerical  members  of  the  Standing  Committee  con- 
cur }  The  fact  is,  therefore,  that  the  very  words  of  the  law 
give  the  discretionary  power  which  Bishop  Griswold  wished  to 
exercise,  to  double  the  extent  required.  The  Canon  allows 
two  years  out  of  three  to  be  dispensed  with,  whereas  the  Bish- 
op asked  for  a  little  less  than  one.*     Plainly,  therefore,  it  was 

laop'^^^i^^"""  ^"*^'^^^^*°"  was  passed  in  the  General  Convention  of 
Ib^b,  and  provides  tliat  every  person  who  desires  to  become  a  Candidate 
for  orders  in  this  Church,  shall,  in  the  first  instance,  give  notice  of  his 
intention  to  the  Bishop,  &c. ;  and  if  he  be  admitted  by  the  Bishop,  &.c. 
he  shall  remain  a  Candidate  for  the  term  of  three  years  before  his  or- 
dination, unless  the  Bishop,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  clerical 
members  of  the  Standing  Committee,  shall  deem  it  expedient  to  ordain 
the  Candidate,  after  the  expiration  of  a  sliorter  period,  not  less  than 
one  year.'     Vid.  Swords'  Ed.  of  the  Canons,  1829,  p.  r;0. 

^7  'r  to  be  regretted  that  in  p.  76  of  Swords'  valuable  Pocktt  M,na- 
nnck  for  1832,  the  above  Canon  is  not  cited  verbatim.  In  the  text,  the 
dispensing  power  is  omitted  altogether,  and  the  period  of  three  years 
is  set  down  absolutely,  without  any  qualification.  And  although  in  the 
note  at  the  foot  of  the  page,  the  omission  is  designed  to  be  "supplied 
2 


10 

a  question,  not  whether  a  law  should  be  broken,  but  whether  a 
license  given  by  the  very  words  of  the  law,  should  be  used. 
And  who  was  the  fittest  judge  of  this  discretion,  the  venerable 
Bishop,  whose  office  obliged  him  to  provide  for  all  the  churches 
in  his  diocese,  or  the  Rector  of  a  single  parish,  with  little  more 
than  half  the  Bishop's  years,  and  not  half  his  experience,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  great  principles  of  ecclesiastical  subordina- 
tion. 

It  is  perfectly  obvious,  that  this  transaction  must  have  ex- 
cited a  great  deal  of  remark.  The  friends  of  the  candidates, 
the  parishes  which  were  waiting  for  aid,  and  the  advocates  of 
the  Bishop's  authority,  would  all  unite  in  condemning  the  un- 
seemly spectacle  of  a  presbyter,  or  two  at  the  most,*  thus  tying 
up  their  Bishop's  hands,  in  a  mere  question  of  expediency,  un- 
der authority  of  the  office  of  member  of  the  Standing  Commit- 
tee. By  the  constitution  of  our  Church,  this  Committee  is  elect- 
ed by  the  Convention,  once  a  year  :  and  it  was  freely  said,  by 
many,  that  the  Convention  owed  it  to  their  Bishop,  to  elect,  on  the 
first  opportunity,  such  clergymen  as  should  be  understood  to  har- 
monize with  him  on  the  point  in  question.  Some  were  for  drop- 
ping both  the  clergymen  who  had  taken  this  discordant  course ; 
others  thought  it  better  to  continue  Mr.  Doane,  who  was  the 
President  of  the  Committee,  and  elect  with  him  two  others,  who 
could  control  the  decision  of  similar  cases,  for  the  time  to  come. 
And  of  this  latter  sentiment  was  the  writer,  because  he  felt  per- 
sonally desirous  to  spare  Mr.  Doane  all  unnecessary  mortifica- 
tion. 

This  free  expression  of  opinion  was  the  threatening  alluded 
to  by  the  Manifesto,  and  constitutes  the  head  and  front  of  the 
offence.    But  where  is  the  sin  or  impropriety  ?    Have  we  some 

yet  we  read,  there,  that  the  Bishop  may,  upon  the  recommendation  of 
the  clerical  members  of  tlie  Standing-  Committee,  dispense  with  the 
period  in  question.  It  is  manifest,  that  in  the  language  of  the  Canon, 
the  Bishop  is  the  prime  mover,  but  in  that  of  the  Almanack,  he  is  only 
alloivcd  to  move  upon  the  recommendation  of  the  Committee.  Tlie  com- 
mon construction  of  this  would  be,  that  the  first  act  must  come  from  the 
Committee — tiiat  it  was  for  the  Bishop  to  follow,  instead  of  leading,  in 
the  matter.  We  have  positive  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  this 
misconception  ;  nor  is  it  strange,  when  we  recollect  that  the  Almanack 
is  consulted  so  much  more  frequently  than  the  Canons. 

*  Owing  to  the  lamented  departure  of  the  Rev.  Alonzo  Potter  from 
the  diocese,  the  clerical  branch  of  the  Standing  Committee  consisted 
at  this  time  of  two  clergymen  only,  Rev.  Messrs.  Doane  and  Boyle. 


11 

hitherto  unheard-of  law  about  lese-majesty,  which  protects  the 
clerical  members  of  a  Bishop's  Council  of  Advice  from  the 
frank  judgment  of  their  brethren?  Is  not  every  member 
of  such  Committee,  the  agent  of  the  Convention,  and  are  the 
members  of  Convention  to  be  denied  the  privilege  of  utteuring 
their  disapprobation  of  his  official  course  ?  And  above  all,  shall 
the  opinions  and  influence  of  the  Bishop,  whom  the  clergy  have 
solemn])^  promised  to  obey,  be  forced  to  bend  to  the  notions  of 
one  or  two  of  his  own  Presbyters,  merely  because,  in  the  exer- 
cise of  a  little  brief  authority,  they  may  choose  to  think  them- 
selves wiser  than  he  ?  Familiar  it  is  to  all,  who  know  but  a  little 
on  the  subject,  that  Standing  Committees  are  a  modern  inven- 
tion. There  was  no  such  thing  in  ancient  times.  There  is  no 
such  thing  in  our  INIother  Church  of  England;  and  in  no  Epis- 
copal Church  on  earth,  except  our  own,  was  a  Bishop  ever 
subject  to  the  judgment  of  one  or  two  of  his  own  presbyters,  as  to 
the  propriety  of  ordaining  a  Deacon.  Doubtless,  however,  the 
institution  is  a  good  one,  because  it  is  designed  to  strengthen, 
not  to  paralyze  the  Bishop's  authority.  But  if  its  clerical  mem- 
bers forget  that  they  were  appointed  to  be  a  Council  of  Advice, 
and  fancy  themselves  a  Board  of  Control,  it  is  manifest,  that 
the  Bishop  must  lose  the  proper  influence  of  his  office,  and  that 
the  duty  of  governing  the  diocese,  one  of  the  most  unquestion- 
able parts  of  his  sacred  responsibility,  must  fall  into  other 
hands.* 

*  It  may  be  thought  by  some,  that  the  writer's  views  of  the  power 
of  the  Bishop's  Council  of  Advice,  or  Standing  Committee,  would  make 
this  respectable  and  important  body  a  mere  nullity.  But  this  would  be 
a  total  misconception.  The  institution  of  this  Council  obliges  the  Bish- 
op to  lislen  to  advice,  and  if  necessary,  to  remonstrance,  before  he  acts, 
in  many  important  questions,  particularly  in  those  which  relate  to  or- 
dination, the  most  important  of  all.  And  when  this  point  is  secured — 
when  Bishops  are  preserved  from  the  danger  of  acting  hastily  and 
without  due  deliberation,  all  is  gained  which  is  desirable  ;  because  no 
man,  worthy  to  hold  the  Episcopal  office,  can  be  supposed  likely  to  pro- 
ceed in  an  improper  course,  after  he  has  had  the  benefit  of  a  full  dis- 
cussion with  his  Council.  Upon  a  similar  principle,  the  Cabinet  Coun- 
cil of  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  not  a  useless  body,  although 
they  can  only  advise,  without  being  authorized  in  any  degree  to  con- 
trol liim.  There  are,  however,  those,  who  prefer  the  analogy  of  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  we  care  but  little  for  the  difference  ; 
since  this  analogy  can  only  apply  in  the  single  instance  of  tlie  control 
which  they  exercise  over  the  appointing  power.  In  all  other  respects 
that  body  is  of  far  higher  dignity  and   importance  in  the   State  than 


V2 

With  these  ideas,  honestly  entertained,  and  freely  avowed  in 
conversation  by  the  writer,  and  he   presumes  by  many  others, 
the  Convention  assembled.      There  was  no  organization  among 
the  persons  accused,  of  any  sort  or  kind  ivhatever.     The  writer 
asserts  this  on  the  assurances  of  all  the  gentlemen  implicated, 
and  their  personal  testimony  will  be  found  annexed.     Religious 
meetings  were  held,  as  he  was  told,  but  he  was  not  present  at 
any  of  them  ;   and  he  has  the  most  absolute  confidence  in  the 
declaration  founded  upon  the  subjoined  proofs,  that  these  meet- 
Standing  Committees  are  in  the  Church,  not  only  forming  an  indepen- 
dent branch  of  the  Legislatm-e,  but  also  constituting  the  High  Court 
of  Judicature,  in  cases  of  impeachment.     Yet  even  in  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States,  a  refusal  to  concur  in  an  appointment  of  the  Presi- 
dent, would  always  be  construed  as  an  act  of  party  opposition,  unless 
where  plain  reasons  of  personal  unfitness  in  the  candidate,  were  alleged 
us  the  ground  of  disagreement.     But  an  Episcopalian  would  greatly 
err,  who  should  place  his  Bishop  on  no  higher  ground  of  authority  than 
a  President.     By  apostolical  appointment  the  Bishop  is  the  Patriarch 
and  Ecclesiastical  Judge  of  the  Church  Avithin  his   diocese.     These 
powers  are  recognized  by  the  title  of  Father,  and  the  obedience  prom- 
ised by  the  clergy,  in  their  solemn  ordination  vows.     Our  form  of  civil 
government,  therefore,  cannot  be  expected  to  furnish  a  perfect  parallel 
to  the  relation  which  a  Committee  of  Presbyters  bear  to  their  Bishop  ; 
although  the  writer  believes  that  the  nearest  on  the  whole,  is  the  rela- 
tion which  a  Cabinet  Council  sustains  to  the  President.     In  ancient 
times,  the  whole  body  of  Presbyters  in  a  diocese  formed  the  Bishop's 
Council  of  Advice.     But  dioceses  were  easily  convened  in  those  days, 
consisting  chiefly  of  one  large  town  and  a  small  district  of  surrounding 
country.     When,  however,  in  adopting  Episcopacy  into  the  United 
States,  the  sparseness  of  population  and  the  great  extent  of  territory 
made  it  necessary  to  give  a  Avide  boundary  to  dioceses,  and  it  Avas 
therefore  thought  best  to  fix  the  limits  of  each  State,  as  the  most  conve- 
nient limits  for  each  diocese,  the  impossibility  of  convening  all  the  clergy 
for  consultation  Avith  their  Bishop,  dictated  the  propriety  of  appointing, 
each  year,  a  Committee,  Avho,  residing  convenient  to  him,  could  as- 
semble Avhenever  it  might  be  expedient,   to  give  him  the  benefit  of 
their  advice  and  counsel.     And,  as  it  was  judged  best  to  admit  a  large 
representation   of  the  laity   into  the  Legislative  Conventions  of  the 
Church,  consistency  required  that  the  knowledge  and  experience  of 
the   laity   should   be   represented   also  in  this  Standing   Committee. 
Hence  an  equal  number  of  both  orders  compose  these  Committees  in 
each  diocese,  although  it  must  be  recollected  that  the  question  in  dis- 
pute, and  the  principles  of  Church  government  which  Ave  have  been 
discussing,  concern  the  clergy  alone. 

Such,  as  the  Avriter  conceives,  Avas  the  origin  of  Standing  Commit- 
tees ;  and  he  holds  them  in  high  respect,   as  a  most  admirable  proof, 

amongst  many  others,  of  the  wisdom  Avhich  governed  in  the   adapta- 
.  tion  of  Episcopacy  to  the  condition  of  things  in  our  oAvn  day.     But  the 


13 

iiigs  were  lor  religious  purposes  alone.  When  the  Convention 
proceeded  to  the  elections  complained  of,  which  was  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  first  day's  session,  the  writer  saw  his  friends 
and  brethren,  on  both  sides,  talking  together  in  the  aisles  of  the 
church,  as  is  customary  on  all  similar  occasions ;  and  tickets 
were  offered  to  him  by  ditferent  persons,  one  of  which  contain- 
ed no  name  that  was  not  generally  understood  to  coincide  with 
Mr.  Doane  ;  and  the  other  contained  only  such  as  were  supposed 
to  concur  with  the  Bishop.  The  writer  declined  both,  and 
framed  his  own  ticket  for  the  Standing  Committee,  with  the 
clerical  names  of  Messrs.  Doane,  Stone  and  Edson. 

And  now  we  arrive  at  the  plain  fact  admitted  by  the  Manifesto 
itself,  which  proves,  that  at  this  period  of  the  business,  there 
could  have  been  no  concert.  It  is  the  fact,  that  the  first  vote 
produced  but  one  clerical  election,  and  that  was  the  election 
of  jMr.  Doane.  The  same  men,  who,  fifteen  minutes  after- 
wards, elected  the  delegates  to  the  General  Convention,  on 
the  principles  of  ^proscription,  by  secret  management,  and 
stratagem,  and  under  drill,  by  all  the  aids  and  appliances, 
ivhich  in  political  warfare  are  but  tolerated,''  according  to  the 
hardy  assertions  of  the  Manifesto,  were  so  little  of  one  mind,  so 
entirely  without  party  organization,  that  Mr.  Doane  was  elected 
on  the  first  ballot,  and  the  votes  given  for  the  other  two  clergy- 
men were  so  scattering,  that  the  requisite  majority  did  not  exist 
in  favor  of  any  one  ;  and  the  House  proceeded  accordingly 
to  vote  the  second  time,  for  the  two  clergymen  required  to 
complete  the  Committee,  when  Messrs.  Stone  and  Edson  were 
chosen. 

Of  the  conference,  stated  by  the  Editor,  between  himself 
and  Mr.  West,  the  writer  knows  nothing  beyond  what  is  de- 
tailed in  the  Manifesto.  But  from  that  statement  it  is  sufficient- 
clergy  composing  these  Committees  should  recollect,  that  they  are 
substitutes  for  the  whole  Council  of  Presbyters  in  ancient  times.  As 
it  was  a  maxim  with  the  famous  Cyprian  to  do  nothing  without  his 
Presbyters,  so  it  is  and  ought  to  be  a  maxim  with  every  I3ishop  in  our 
country,  to  do  nothing  without  his  Council  of  Advice.  But  their  influ- 
ence over  him  should  be  the  kindly  influence  of  mind  upon  mind,  in  the 
form  of  advice  and  recommendation,  and  not  the  stern  contradiction  of 
presumed  control.  Nor  is  it  to  be  supposed,  for  a  moment,  tliat  the  fa- 
thers of  our  modern  Ecclesiastical  constitution  intended  to  authorize 
two  Presbyters,  as  a  Committee  from  the  rest,  to  do  more  towards  re- 
straining their  Bishop  in  our  day,  than  the  whole  body  of  Presbyters 
could  do  for  the  first  eighteen  centuries  of  the  Christian  era. 


14 

ly  plain,  that  the  proof  of  organization  is  strongest  on  the  com- 
plaining side.  The  Editor  allows,  that  '  at  the  time  of  Convention 
there  was,  among  the  clergy  and  laity,  more  or  less  consulta- 
tion as  to  the  manner  in  which  the  vacancies  in  the  two  tickets 
were  to  he  supplied,  the  Rev.  J\Ir.  Potter  having  removed, 
and  Mr.  Clark  having  died ;  and  as  to  the  other  changes 
necessary  to  he  made,  for  ensuring,  in  regard  to  the  General 
Convention,  a  full  attendance.  JVo  caucus,''  indeed,  he  pro- 
ceeds to  say,  '  was  held,  and  no  plans  were  organized,  hut  it 
was  generally  understood  that  the  vacancies  in  the  Standing 
Committee  were  to  he  filled  hy  Rev.  Mr.  Coit,  and  Joseph  Foster, 
Esq.  while,  in  the  delegation  to  the  General  Convention,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Stone  was  to  succeed  the  Rev.  Mr.  Potter,  and  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Parker  give  way  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Edson,  who  had 
been  before  in  the  representation.  For  convenience  sake,  some 
tickets  were  written,  in  accordance  with  this  understanding,  but 
there  was  no  general  concert  and  no  plan  of  efforts  to  ensure 
success,  simply  because,  being  thought  a  good  ticket,  and  made 
without  personal  or  party  interest,  it  would  go,  it  was  supposed, 
of  course,  and  perhaps  unanimously.''  This  long  quotation  is 
only  made  for  the  purpose  of  showing,  that  by  the  Editor's  own 
statement,  there  seems  to  have  been  more  concert  among 
the  accusing  party,  than  among  the  accused.  There  was, 
he  informs  us,  more  or  less  consultation — names  were  sug- 
gested and  agreed  upon, — there  was  a  general  understand- 
ing, and,  for  convenience  sake,  tickets  were  prepared;  but 
no  caucus  was  held,  for  the  candid  reason,  that  none  was 
thought  necessary.  The  Editor,  however,  and  every  other 
man  of  common  sense,  must  know,  that  the  benefits  of  caucus- 
ing can  be  had  in  more  ways  than  one,  and  there  is  little  use 
in  adopting  an  unpopular  name  for  a  thing,  when  the  design 
can  be  attained  without  it.  As  to  the  remainder  of  the  evi- 
dence, it  consists  of  a  conference  which  resulted  in  nothing  ; 
but  the  attempt  to  accommodate,  whether  it  succeeded  or  not, 
exhibits  no  more  concert  on  the  one  side,  than  on  the  other. 
All  the  rest  of  the  Editor's  statement  goes  to  prove  a  prepara- 
tion, a  consultation,  a  general  understanding,  and  the  actual 
writing  of  tickets,  by  the  party  that  wished  to  continue  in 
power;  while  the  simple  fact,  that  the  majority,  (who  were  able, 
immediately  afterwards,  to  carry  an  exclusive  ticket  for  the 
General  Convention,)  could  not  hinder  the  election  of  Mr. 
Doane  on  the  first  ballot,  distinctly  shows  that  the  organization 


15 

of  Mr.  West's  friends  was,  at  least,  less  perfect  than  that  of 
their  adversaries. 

The  writer  will  not  dwell  on  the  amusing  idea,  that  the 
tickets  were  to  be  formed  on  the  principle  of  filing  vacancies, 
as  if  our  right  of  suffrage  at  Ecclesiastical  Conventions  were 
not  as  free  as  the  air  we  breathe,  or  as  if  those  gentlemen  who 
like  to  remain  in  office,  are  to  be  indulged  with  a  perpetuity. 
Far  more  reasonable,  surely,  and  far  more  christian,  is  it,  to 
adopt  the  principle  of  rotation,  in  order  that  the  burden  and 
the  honor  of  office,  whatever  they  may  be,  may  be  shared,  as 
far  as  possible,  in  the  spirit  of  fraternal  accommodation. 
Neither  would  the  writer  be  understood  as  condemning  concert 
and  agreement  amongst  any  body  of  men,  who,  laboring 
under  a  grievance,  in  church  or  state,  peaceably  and  lawfully 
meet  together  to  make  arrangements  in  reference  to  an  ap- 
proaching election.  True,  indeed,  the  necessity  which  calls 
for  the  exercise  of  this  privilege  is  greatly  to  be  deplored,  and 
the  writer  would  be  among  the  last,  needlessly  to  recommend 
its  adoption.  But  the  right  itself,  is  part  and  parcel  of  the 
elective  franchise,  and  he  would  consider  any  man  ready  to  be- 
come either  a  despot  or  a  slave,  who  should  seriously  call  it  in 
question.  If  the  Editor's  friends,  therefore,  thought  fit  to  have 
a  previous  concert,  they  had  a  right  to  do  so.  If  they  thought 
fit  to  form  their  tickets,  and  have  them  written  for  convenience 
sake,  they  had  a  right  to  do  this  likewise.  But  having  done 
thus,  the  Editor  had  no  right  to  censure  other  men,  who,  pos- 
sessing the  privileges  of  clergymen  and  freemen  as  well  as  him- 
self, do  not  appear,  by  his  own  showing,  to  have  gone  half  so 
far  in  exercising  them. 

We  pass  on  to  the  next  stage  in  this  Conventional  history. 
After  the  election  for  the  Standing  Committee  was  held,  the 
delegates  to  the  General  Convention  were  chosen,  and  Messrs. 
Edson,  West,  Baury,  and  Stone,  were  elected,  instead  of 
Messrs.  Morss,  Doane,  Edson,  and  Stone.  With  the  failure  of 
Dr.  Morss  and  Mr.  Doane,  the  writer  had  nothing  to  do.  His 
own  vote  was  given  for  them,  and  he  would  have  been  gratified  to 
see  them  elected.  The  difference,  however,  between  the  two 
tickets,  only  affected  half  the  clerical  members  of  the  delega- 
tion. Whatever  may  have  been  felt,  no  voice  was  raised 
against  the  result,  and  the  Convention  adjourned,  to  meet  the 
following  morning,  with  the  general  impression  that  the  main 
business  of  the  session  was  over. 


16 

Thus  far,  let  it  be  remembered,  the  mode  of  conducting  the 
Convention  was  not  questioned  by  any  one.  The  elections 
were  made  by  ballot,  each  clergyman  and  each  layman  giving 
one  vote.  The  tellers  counted  the  votes,  and  the  result  was 
declared,  acquiesced  in,  and  recorded,  in  all  respects  in  the 
usual  way.  There  had  been  frankness,  but  no  heat, — difference 
of  choice,  but  no  disagreement ;  and  the  Convention  adjourned 
with  as  little  appearance  of  agitation  or  disturbance,  as  the 
writer  has  usually  witnessed  in  similar  bodies.  And  at  this 
stage  of  the  proceedings  it  is,  that  the  Editor  of  the  Banner 
presents  the  Episcopal  public  with  the  following  reflections, 
which  we  shall  extract,  with  a  brief  running  commentary. 

'  Thus  was  it  seen,  for  the  first  time,''  says  he, '  that  an  organi- 
zation on  party  principles  existed  in  the  Church  in  JWassachu- 
setts.^  What  sort  of  party  principles  does  the  Editor  mean  ? 
The  desire  to  sustain  the  Bishop,  by  giving  him  officers  with 
whom  he  could  act  in  concert,  was  the  only  principle  which 
seemed  to  actuate  the  majority  in  the  Convention  ;  and  in  the 
Episcopal  Church,  the  writer  has  not  been  accustomed  to  hear 
the  friends  and  supporters  of  their  Bishop,  called  a  party.  That 
term,  he  has  hitherto  known  to  be  applied,  chiefly,  to  those  who 
opposed  their  Diocesan.  But  the  Editor  proceeds  to  say  that 
this  organized  party  contemplated  nothing  less  than  '  an  entire 
proscription  of  those  in  whom  former  Conventions  had,  year 
after  year,  reposed  their  confidence.''  This  is  certainly  a  novel 
doctrine,  that  electing  new  candidates  amounts  to  vl proscription 
of  former  ones.  A  very  slight  inspection  of  the  records  will 
show,  that  the  gentlemen,  who  have  been  passed  by,  were  not 
always  the  choice  of  the  Convention.  Others,  quite  as  old, 
and  probably  as  capable,  were  once  set  aside  in  order  to  pro- 
mote them  ;  but  there  was  no  complaint  of  proscription  then. 
Why  should  there  be  any  now,  only  because  they  have  to  sub- 
mit, in  turn,  to  the  common  lot  of  earthly  mutation?  Had  not 
the  members  of  Convention  a  right  to  vote  for  whom  they 
pleased?  And  what  is  to  become  of  the  liberty  of  choice,  if  an 
unsuccessful  candidate  employs  the  press  to  impeach  its  ex- 
ercise ? 

'  Certainmen,''  continues  the  Editor, '  because  they  held  certain 
principles, — no  matter  how  long  their  connexion  with  the  coun- 
sels of  the  Church,  7io  matter  how  identified  the  parishes  which 
they  represent,  with  its  existence, — no  matter  hoiv  great  the  self- 
devotion  and  self-sacrifice  of  their  past,  nor  the  acknowledged 


17 

value  of  their  present  services,  were  to  be  /  roscribed.  It  is 
to  be  presumed  that  these  '  certain  men  '  are  the  unsuccessful 
candidates  already  mentioned,  and  assuredly  it  is  refreshing, 
in  those  degenerate  days,  to  hear  of  so  much  self-devotion  and 
self-sacrifice;  but  one  is  tempted  to  think  of  the  proverb,  '  Let 
another  praise  thee,  and  not  thine  own  mouth,'  as  entirely  ap- 
plicable to  one,  at  least,  of  the  gentlemen  so  highly  commended. 
The  Editor  proceeds,  however,  to  give  his  readers  the  antithe- 
sis. '  Certain  men,''  says  he, '  because  they  did  not  hold  certain 
principles,  or  held  them  lightly  and  to  the  ivind,  no  matter  how 
unconscious  of  jicist  services,  nor  how  incompetent  of  future, 
were  to  be  elevated  to  places  of  confidence  and  responsibility.^ 
Alas  !  to  which  of  the  clerical  delegates  is  this  intended  to  ap- 
])ly  ?  Is  it  exactly  the  language  of  truth  and  soberness,  to  talk 
of  ministerial  brethren,  who  are  in  good  repute  for  faithfulness 
and  efficiency,  as  being  unconscious  of  past  services  and  incom- 
petent of  future  ?  Who  is  this  that  judgeth  another  man's  ser- 
vant, and  saith  to  his  brother,  '  Stand  by,  for  I  am  holier  than 
thou  ? ' 

Let  us  pass  on,  however,  to  the  next  clause  of  this  extraor- 
dinary paragraph,  in  which  the  Editor  speaks  of  the  way  in 
which  this  Conventional  victory  was  achieved.  '  If,^  says  he, 
'  this  were  the  fair  expression  of  the  Church  in  Jvlassachusetts, 
if  the  people  tvould  have  it  so,  there  was  nothing  to  be  done 
but  to  submit  in  patience.  But  when  it  appeared  clearly  to 
be  the  effect  of  concert  and  exertion ;  xohen  clerical  strength 
teas  brought  into  the  State  tvithin  three  weeks,  and  parishes 
were  galvanized  into  a  spasmodic  vitality  for  this  special  pur- 
pose ;  when  it  was  seen  and  known  that  the  act  of  Providence, 
or  the  consciousness  of  a  good  cause,  or  pressure  of  engage- 
ments, or,  it  must  be  added,  culpable  indifference,  had  pre- 
pared the  way  for  an  unquestionable  and  confessed  minority, 
under  drill,  and  loith  auxiliary  influences  from  another  State, 
to  force  men  upon  the  Convention  tchom  the  Convention  did 
not  approve,  and  to  give  to  the  world  the  appearance  of  a 
dynasty  in  its  counsels  which  does  not,  and  ivhichwe pray  God., 
never  may  exist.  When  these  things  were  so,  it  seemed  that 
in  no  sense  of  duty  to  the  truth,  could  silence  be  permitted,  and 
though  submission  to  such  a  result  might  be  matter  of  necessi- 
ty, acquiescence  in  it  icere  treason  to  the  Church.^ 

The  writer  does  not  profess   to  understand  these   allusions. 
But  verv  manifest  it  is,  that  they  are  totally  unsupported  by 
3 


18 

proof.  It  has  already  been  shown,  that  the  stronger  evidence 
of  concert  and  preparation  was  clearly  on  the  Editor's  side. 
What  clergyman  was  brought  into  the  State,  and  by  whom, 
he  does  not  inform  us  ;  but  it  may  be  presumed  that  the  Bishop 
knew,  because  it  was  necessary  that  such  clergyman  should 
have  obtained  his  approbation  in  order  to  take  his  seat  in  Con- 
vention. What  parishes  were  galvanized,  and  how  this  curious 
application  of  Natural  Philosophy  was  effected,  he  leaves  his 
readers  to  conjecture.  By  what  mode  he  discovered,  that 
these  operations  were  carried  on  for  the  special  purpose  of 
leaving  Dr.  Morss  and  Mr.  Doane  out  of  the  delegation  to  the 
General  Convention,  he  does  not  intimate.  Who  the  clergyman 
from  another  State  was,  that  contrived  to  perform  a  feat,  hith- 
erto, certainly,  unattempted  in  our  Ecclesiastical  history,  viz. 
forcing  men  upon  the  Convention  whom  the  Convention  did  not 
approve,  and  that  too,  by  the  very  original  instrumentality  of 
an  unquestionable  and  confessed  minority,  remains  equally  the 
subject  of  mystery.  What  he  means  by  these  proceedings 
having  given  to  the  Church  in  Massachusetts,  the  appearance 
of  a  dynasty,  which  does  not,  and,  he  prays  God,  never  may 
exist,  it  is  as  difficult  for  a  common  mind  to  conjecture.  As- 
suredly, if  the  term  Dynasty  be  applicable  to  our  Church  at  all, 
it  must  bear  reference  to  the  government  for  the  time  being  ; 
and  that  government,  when  lawful,  is  vested  in  the  Bishop,  to 
whom  the  clergy  are  bound,  by  vow,  to  render  canonical  obe- 
dience. Wo  be  to  that  branch  of  our  Church,  wliere  any 
other  dynasty  is  attempted  to  be  established,  than  that  which 
is  united  to  its  Bishop.  And  wo  to  that  Convention,  in  which 
the  influence  of  the  members  is  found  to  be  too  strong  for  the 
just  influence  of  its  head.  The  dynasty  of  the  Church  in 
Massachusetts,  is  the  dynasty  of  Bishop  Griswold.  The 
Editor  does  not  insinuate  that  this  has  been  weakened  or  im- 
paired. 

As  to  the  last  strong  expression,  the  Editor's  notion  of  treason 
must  be  somewhat  peculiar.  Acquiescence  in  the  acts  of  any 
legislative  body,  is  usually  supposed  to  be  the  characteristic  of 
a  good  citizen.  It  is  the  opposition  to  government  which  is 
commonly  considered  as  treasonable  ;  and  how  the  desire  to 
sustain  the  Bishop,  by  putting  into  office,  at  a  regular  election, 
those  clergymen  whose  views  harmonized  with  his,  can  be 
called  treason,  or  how  this  term  can  apply  to  an  acquiescence 
with  such  an  election,  it  passes  ordinary  intellects  to  discover. 


19 

But  we  leave  this  branch  of  accusation  without  further  remark, 
only  referring  to  what  was  said,  at  the  beginning,  that  the  Edi- 
tor does  not,  as  he  promises,  confine  himself  io  facts,  but  makes 
his  worst  and  heaviest  accusations  without  any  evidence  what- 
ever, assuming  the  grievances  of  which  he  complains,  and  in- 
timating, in  strong,  but  mysterious  asseverations,  charges  alto- 
gether distinct  from  his  proofs,  so  cloudy  and  obscure,  that  they 
insinuate  far  more  than  they  express,  and  so  undefined,  that 
disproval  becomes  impossible.  If  this  be  the  style  in  which  he 
should  like  to  be  put  upon  his  own  trial,  he  must  have  as  pe- 
culiar an  idea  of  justice  as  he  appears  to  have  of  treason. 

The  concluding  item  of  cur  arraignment  is,  at  last,  at  hand. 
The  Editor  says,  that,  '  examining  the  elections  under  these  con- 
victions, and  ivith  these  views,  and  appealing  to  former  records 
and  to  the  constitution  of  the  Church,  it  was  ascertained,  beyond 
the  shadow  of  a  doubt,  that  the  proceedings  of  the  Convention 
on  the  first  day  of  its  session,  and  of  course  the  elections,  were 
in  contravention  of  the  express  provisions  of  the  2d  and  3d 
articles  of  the  constitution,  and  it  was  determined  on,  as  due  to 
truth,  to  the  Convention,  to  the  Church  every  where,  to  estab- 
lish the  conviction.  Accordingly,  at  the  opening  of  the  Con- 
vention on  the  second  day,  Edward  Jl.  JVewton,  Esq.  rose  and 
called  the  attention  of  the  Convention  to  an  examination  of  the 
unconstitutionality  of  the  elections  made  by  this  body  yesterday. 
Whereupon  it  was  moved  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  JMorss,  that  the  elec- 
tions for  Standirig  Committee  and  delegates  to  the  General  Con- 
vention, made  by  this  Convention  yesterday,  being  contrary  to 
the  2d  and  3d  articles  of  the  constitution  be  hereby  set  aside 
as  null  and  void.  This  motion  gave  rise  to  an  animated  and 
protracted  debate ;'  and  after  an  amendment  offered  by  Col. 
Apthorp,  which  did  not  essentially  vary  the  question,  the  mo- 
tion was  lost,  the  clergy  being  in  favor  of  annulling  the  elections 
by  a  vote  of  fourteen  against  eight,  and  the  laity  being  opposed 
to  the  motion  by  a  vote  of  five  congregations  against  three. 

^  Of  the  manner,''  says  the  Editor,  '  in  which  the  resolution  of 
Dr.  Morss  was  opposed  and  its  consequences  sought  to  be 
evaded,  we  will  not  speak.  It  will  be  sufficient  in  the  sight  of 
all  candid  men,  that  it  was  opposed  at  all.  To  shrink  from 
the  revisal  of  unconstitutional  acts,  to  shrink  from  the  expres- 
sion of  the  sense  of  the  Convention,  whether  they  were  or  were 
not  constitutional,  to  resort  to  every  parliamentary  device,  to 
seek  to  apply  to  the  proverbially  informal  proceedings  of  an 


20 

Ecclesiastical  Convention,  the  strict  rules  of  the  highest  judicial 
courts,  and  the  specialities,  the  technicalities,  the  quibbling 
criticisms  that  perplex  the  lowest, — short  of  an  explicit  confession 
of  it,  we  knoiv  no  more  conclusive  admission  than  this,  of 
wrong  done,  but  to  be  sustained  because  the  doers  of  it  have  the 
power.''  Truly  these  are  grave  charges,  and  the  writer  ought 
to  feel  thern  the  more,  because,  if  there  were  wrong  done  in 
opposing  this  nullifying  motion,  he  had  a  full  share  in  the  doing 
of  it ;  and  therefore,  the  merits  of  the  question  must  be  explain- 
ed, so  as  to  show  what  arguments  were  used,  and  why  they  were 
persisted  in. 

The  constitutional  provisions  on  which  the  motion  was  found- 
ed, were  these.  'Art.  2.  The  clergy  and  lay  deputies  in 
Convention  shall  deliberate  in  one  body,  but  shall  vote  in  two 
distinct  orders,  and  the  concurrence  of  both  orders  shall  be  ne- 
cessary to  give  validity  to  every  measure.'  '  Art.  3.  Each 
congregation  represented  in  Convention  shall  have  one  vote.' 

The  elections  were  unconstitutional,  it  was  contended  ;  first, 
because  the  clergy  and  laity  did  not  vote  in  two  distinct  orders  ; 
2dly,  because  the  lay  delegation  voted  as  individuals,  and  not  by 
parishes.  This  constitution  was  adopted  about  forty  years  ago, 
and  there  was  a  new  one  which  had  been  once  approved,  and 
was  at  this  time  only  waiting  for  a  second  vote  to  become  the 
law.  In  effect,  it  was  passed  the  same  day,  within  a  few  hours 
after  the  motion  to  nullify  was  rejected.  The  difference  be- 
tween the  language  of  the  new  and  the  old  constitution  on  the 
subject  in  debate,  was,  that  the  new  constitution  required  the 
same  course  to  be  taken,  tvhen  a  division  ivas  called  for ,  leaving 
the  Convention  to  vote  in  the  common  way,  when  a  division  was 
not  called  for. 

Now  there  is  no  doubt,  that,  on  the  mere  letter  of  the  old 
constitution,  it  might  well  be  questioned  whether  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  Convention  on,  the  first  day  of  its  session,  were  regu- 
lar. But  in  an  instrument  under  which  the  Convention  had 
been  acting  for  forty  years,  the  first  question  was,  what  con- 
struction had  the  Church  in  Massachusetts  put  upon  it }  for  it 
would  evidently  be  idle  to  seek  for  a  new  practice  under  so  old 
a  law,  the  more  especially  when  that  law  was  just  about  being 
superseded  by  a  new  constitution,  which  provided  the  very  same 
course,  in  express  words,  that  the  Convention  had  actually 
taken. 


21 

As  soon,  liowever,  as  the  motion  to  nullify  was  explained,  the 
question  of  practice  was  anticipated  in  a  manner  wliicli  the 
Editor  of  the  Manifesto  totally  forgets  to  mention.  Bishop 
Griswold  arose  from  his  chair,  and  declared  that  he  could  not 
sit  tiiere  if  such  a  motion  prevailed  ;  because,  upon  the  principles 
contended  for,  the  Convention  had  been  doing  nothing  for  up- 
wards of  d)irty  years.  He  added,  that  so  far  as  he  knew  or 
had  ever  heard,  all  the  business  had  been  done  in  the  very 
same  mode  as  the  business  of  yesterday,  and  that,  in  practice, 
the  course  marked  out  by  the  constitution  was  only  used,  wdien 
a  division  of  the  house  was  called  for. 

This  statcmeuf,  thus  made  by  the  venerable  President  of  the 
Convention,  suggested  to  the  mind  of  the  writer  a  clear  course 
of  action,  in  opposing  the  motion  to  nullify.     And  he  sustained 
the  ground    taken  by  the   Bishop,  upon  the  principle,  tliat  al- 
though practice  could  not  annul  the  law.  yet  it  might   restrain 
the  application  of  the  constitution  to  the  case  of  a  division  being 
called  ;  1st,  because  the  instrument  contained  no  negative  words. 
It  provided  indeed,  one  mode  of  voting,  but  did  not  declare  that 
there  should  be  no  other.     2dly,  because  its  peculiar  provisions 
could  always  be  enforced  by  any  member  of  the  Convention 
who  chose  to  call  for  a  division,  and  those  who  did  not  choose 
to  make  this  call,  hut  actually  united  in  the  common  mode  of 
electing,  had  no   right  to   complain ;   and   odly,   because   the 
framers  of  the  constitution  had  the  best  opportunity  of  know- 
ing their  own  meaning,  and  that  they  had  established  the  prac- 
tice which  had  continued,  without  interruption,  ever  since.  The 
writer  relied  chiefly,  however,  upon  the  necessity  of  rejecting 
the  principle  contended  for,  because  it  would  effectually  destroy 
the  Convention,  and  be  an  act  of  legislative  suicide.     For  if,  as 
It  was  insisted,  every  measure,  in  the  words  of  the  constitution, 
must  be   voted   for  by  orders,  then  the  vote  of  adjournment 
which  continued  the  session  must  be  nullified  also.     And  since 
the  constitution   directed  the  Convention  to  be  held  only    on 
Wednesday,  and   the  day  on  which  the  objection  was  made, 
was  the  Thursday  following,  and  since  it  is  unquestionable  that 
unless  the  House  were  regularly  adjourned  by  a  legal  vote,  its 
session    must  expire   on  the  day  named,   therefore  it  neces- 
sarily resulted,  that  as  soon  as  the  house  resolved  to  nullify  the 
measures  of  the  preceding  day,  it  would,  by  that  very  decision, 
destroy  its  own  being,  and  so  the  whole  session  must  break  up 
in   disgraceful  confusion.     Upon   the  same   principle,   it   was 


22 

shown,  that  we  could  have  neither  record  nor  constitution ;  be- 
cause we  could  only  know  that  these  were  our  records  by  our 
faith  in  our  secretary  ;  but  the  secretary  was  elected  in  the 
same  way,  and  therefore  if  we  nullified  one  act  on  the  princi- 
ple insisted  upon,  we  should  reduce  ourselves  to  the  situation 
of  having  neither  officer  or  constitution,  and  thus  bring  ourselves 
to  the  position  presented  by  the  Bishop,  that  the  Church  in 
Massachusetts  had  been  doing  nothing  for  more  than  thirty 
years.  As  for  those  who  now  complained,  they  had  no  right 
whatever,  because  they  had  estopped  themselves  by  their  own 
consent.  Their  alleged  ignorance  of  the  constitution  was  no 
ground  of  objection,  because  it  was  their  duty  to  have  known 
it ;  and  it  is  a  well-settled  maxim  that  ignorance  of  the  law  ex- 
cuses no  one.  At  the  time  the  elections  were  made,  they 
thought  the  mode  of  voting  as  correct  as  others.  They  ac- 
quiesced ;  the  tellers  reported  the  result ;  the  secretary  recorded 
it ;  it  was  as  much  a  portion  of  our  record  as  the  constitution 
itself,  and  it  was  too  late  to  oppose  it  now. 

In  contravention  of  the  Bishop's  declaration  that  this  was  the 
invariable  practice,  one  or  two  instances  were  adduced  from 
the  records,  where  it  appeared  that  two  of  the  parishes  voted  by 
parishes,  and  not  by  the  individual  vote,  or  by  the  poll.  But 
these  instances  occurred  about  forty  years  ago,  and  they  were 
not  cases  of  elections ;  so  that  it  remained  uncontroverted  by 
any  evidence  whatever,  that  certainly  for  thirty  years  past,  at 
least,  the  proceedings  of  the  Convention  had  been  conducted 
in  no  other  mode  than  that  which  was  now  attempted  to  be  set 
aside,  as  unconstitutional  and  void. 

A  very  able  argument  was  delivered  by  Mr.  Metcalf,  of 
Dedham,  turning  not  only  on  the  grounds  above  stated,  but  on 
the  additional  point,  that  the  word  measure  in  the  constitution 
did  not  refer  to  elections,  but  to  questions  of  debate  ;  an  opin- 
ion which  was  rendered  very  plausible  by  the  fact  that  the  con- 
stitution prescribed  no  particular  mode  of  voting  in  elections, 
whether  by  ballot  or  otherwise,  as  if  it  were  designed  to  leave 
the  whole  matter  to  the  discretion  of  the  Convention.  Two 
other  gentlemen  of  the  legal  profession,  being  all  the  lawyers 
who  were  present,  concurred.  The  Bishop  addressed  the 
house  several  times  during  the  debate,  in  order  to  convince  the 
advocates  of  this  nullifying  motion  of  their  error,  but  in  vain  ; 
and  the  question  was  put  to  the  vote,  after  the  day  had  been 
almost  consumed  by  it,  and  lost,  as  already  mentioned ;  the  laity 


23 

on  this  occasion,  &s  they  have  often  done  elsewhere,  sustaining 
their  Bishop,  and  saving  the  credit  of  the  Churcii. 

These  votes,  when  compared  with  those  of  the  previous  day, 
are  worthy  of  attention,  because  they  demonstrate  the  fact  that 
two  clergymen,  the  Rev.  Mv.  West,  and  Rev.  jMr.  Wolcott, 
and  more  than  half  the  laity,  making  togelher  not  less  than  nine- 
teen members  of  the  Convention,  had  gone  home.  The  first 
voles  polled,  show  fifty-three  votcrsjthe  last  shows  only  thirty-four. 
The  elections  being  closed  on  the  first  day,  and  no  other  business 
of  importance  being  expected,  the  second  morning  exhibited  a 
body  very  differently  constituted  from  the  first,  so  that  even  if 
the  elections  could  have  been  legally  annulled,  there  was  no 
possibility  of  obtaining  the  sentiments  of  the  whole  Convention 
upon  another  ticket.  For  all  these  reasons,  of  which  the  fact 
last  mentioned  is  a  reason  of  equity,  the  accused  resisted  the 
destructive  motion,  so  unexpectedly  made  and  so  pertinaciously 
urged  upon  them,  in  utter  disregard  to  the  best  efforts  of  the 
Bishop  himself;  and  assuredly,  they  have  never  reflected  upon 
the  course  which  they  pursued,  without  increasing  satisfaction, 
to  the  present  hour. 

This,  then,  is  a  full  and  detailed  account  of  the  unworthy 
parliamentary  devices,  the  quibbling  criticisms,  the  admission 
of  wrong  done,  and  the  sustaining  of  the  wrong  because  ive 
had  the  power,  &ic.  &lc.,  of  which  the  Editor  so  hotly  com- 
plains. True,  indeed,  the  writer  was  ready  to  acknowledge 
that  Dr.  Morss  and  Mr.  Doane  wxre  well  entitled  to  the  re- 
spectful consideration  of  the  Convention.  He  had  himself 
voted  for  them,  and  would  have  been  gratified  if  their  ticket 
had  succeeded.  But  after  the  elections  were  closed  with  the 
acquiescence  of  all  parties,  he  could  not  consent  to  throw  the 
Church  into  confusion,  and  make  the  Massachusetts  Convention 
a  public  laughing-stock,  by  nullifying  and  destroying  its  very 
being,  in  order  to  please  even  these  esteemed  brethren.  The 
very  idea  seemed  then,  and  seems  still,  so  reckless  and  so  wild, 
that  it  furnishes  a  phenomenon  in  the  history  of  the  human  in- 
tellect to  find  good  and  well-meaning  men  carried  away  with 
it.  Had  they  succeeded,  the  Bishop  must  have  left  the  house, 
all  who  accorded  with  him  must  have  followed,  and  the  '  Ban- 
ner of  the  Church '  would  have  been  compelled  to  clothe  its 
columns  in  typographic  mourning,  when  it  recorded  the  suicide 
of  the  Massachusetts  Convention ;  along  with  the  edifying  story 
of  the  sagacity  of  Episcopalians,  who  could  not  find   out  the 


24 

meaning  of  their  Ecclesiastical  constitution,  although  practising 
under  it  for  forty  years,  until  the  very  day  when  they  super- 
seded it  by  a  new  one. 

But  the  accused  must  take  leave  to  complain,  that  in  print- 
ing this  bitter  invective  against  them,  the  Editor  forgot  to  give 
them  the  benefit  of  their  Bishop's  countenance.  If  they  have, 
indeed,  committed  such  a  grievous  error  in  the  construction  of 
Ecclesiastical  law,  it  would  have  been  but  fair  to  tell  the  public 
that  he,  who  is  by  office  an  Ecclesiastical  Judge,  maintained  the 
same  opinion.  But  either  by  a  lapse  of  memory  to  which  even 
young  men  are  sometimes  liable,  or  for  some  other  reason, 
the  Editor  totally  omits  the  sentiments  and  conduct  of  the 
Bishop.  He  gives  sundry  little  facts  which,  to  the  writer's 
understanding,  appeared  altogether  out  of  place  in  a  public 
history  of  a  Convention;  while  he  passes  by  the  official  course 
of  the  President  of  that  Convention.  He  speaks  very  strongly 
of  the  majority  of  fourteen  clergymen  against  eight,  as  afford- 
ing conclusive  evidence  that  the  eight  were  in  error ;  but  he 
does  not  seem  to  have  asked  himself,  how  many  of  the  opinions 
of  the  younger  clergy  should  be  thrown  into  the  scale,  in  order 
to  be  a  fair  balance  to  the  deliberate  judgment  of  their  Bishop. 
The  accused,  however,  desire  it  to  be  well  remembered  that 
the  course  which  they  took,  their  Ecclesiastical  head  marked 
out  to  them.  And  although  it  is  true  that  a  majority  of  their 
clerical  brethren  preferred  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Morss  and  Mr. 
Doane, — although  it  is  true  that  even  the  youthful  deacon  who 
was  ordained  only  the  day  before,  with  his  solemn  vows  of 
obedience  fresh  upon  him,  rose  up  and  expressed  himself  in 
preciseoppositiontothe  declared  sentimcntsof  hisspiritual  father, 
— yet  no  man  shall  deprive  the  accused  of  the  consciousness 
that  the  Church  in  Massachusetts  is  that  which  adheres  to  her 
Bishop,  rather  than  even  a  majority  of  the  clergy  who  choose 
some  other  guide.  And  in  this  or  in  any  other  decision  upon 
Ecclesiastical  questions,  we  maintain,  by  the  fundamental  law 
of  Episcopacy,  that  the  sentiment  of  the  Bishop,  with  a 
minority  of  the  clergy  and  a  majority  of  the  laity,  is  the  senti- 
ment of  the  Church  in  Massachusetts, — the  declaration  of  the 
Manifesto  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  i  his  principle 
follows  from  the  very  definition  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  It 
is  the  only  Ecclesiastical  principle  v.hich  can  keep  us  in  the 
unity  of  the  Spirit  and  the  bond  of  peace.  It  is  the  only 
principle  which  can  preserve  us  from  confusion   and  strife  and 


25 

every  evil  work.  We  all  know  that  it  is  much  easier  to  say 
'  Lord,  Lord,'  than  to  '  do  the  things  wliich  he  commands  us.'  It 
is  much  easier  to  contend  about  the  apostolical  succession, 
than  to  '  obey  them  that  have  the  rule  over  us,'  '  esteeming 
them  highly  in  love  for  their  works'  sake.'  But  the  Editor 
and  his  adherents  may  rest  assured,  however  unable  they  may 
at  present  feel  to  relish  the  maxim,  that  if  theoretica'  Episco- 
pacy be  a  good  thing,  practical  Episcopacy  must  be  much 
better. 

To  sum  up  the  whole,  the  writer  believes  it  to  be  sufficiently 
manifest  from  the  narrative  given,  taken  in  connexion  with  the 
demonstrative  evidence  subjoined,  that  the  '  Manifesto '  is  in- 
deed an  eloquent  Philippic,  displaying  abundant  talent  and 
ingenuity,  but  sadly  deficient  in  sobriety  and  justice,  to  say 
nothing  of  christian  charity  and  discretion.  That  the  accused 
have  formed  no  party  and  belong  to  none  but  the  Church,  of 
which  it  is  the  first  and  cardinal  peculiarity  that  they  be  united 
to  their  Bishop.  That  in  the  whole  of  this  affair  they  have 
been  endeavoring  to  exemplify  a  principle  which  their  accusers 
are  always  ready  to  praise,  viz.  the  well-known  maxim  of 
Ignatius,  '  Do  nothing  without  your  Bishop.'  And,  finally,  that 
if  there  be  either  disturbance  or  strife  in  the  Church  of  Massa- 
chusetts, it  only  furnishes  another  commentary  on  the  impor- 
tance of  keeping  the  Episcopal  portion  of  the  Ordination  vow.* 


*  Inasmuch  as  these  pages  may  possibly  be  perused  by  some  who 
are  not  familiar  witii  the  system  of  our  Church  government,  it  may  be 
proper  to  state  that  Episcopalians  maintain  the  establishment  of  three 
orders  in  the  ministry  by  the  authority  of  the  Apostles.  To  the  first 
of  these  three  orders,  viz.  the  Bishops,  arc  committed  the  permanent 
functions  of  the  Apostolic  office,  Ordination  and  Government,  and  the 
other  two  orders,  namely  Priests  and  Deacons,  promise  obedience  and 
submission  to  their  Bishop  at  the  time  of  their  ordination,  respectively, 
in  the  following  terms.  The  Bishop  asks  llie  Candidate  for  Deacon's 
orders,  'Will  you  reverently  obey  your  Bishop  and  other  cliief  minis- 
ters, who,  according  to  the  Canons  of  the  Church,  may  have  the  charge 
and  government  over  you,  following  witli  a  glad  mind  and  will  thsir 
godly  admonitions?'  And  the  Candidate  answers  '  I  will  endeavor  so 
to  do,  the  Lord  being  my  lielpcr.'  The  same  question  is  put  to  the 
Candidate  for  Priest's  orders,  only  with  the  additional  words,  '  and  sub- 
mitting yourself  to  their  godly  judgments  ; '  and  the  answer  is  a  little 
more  positive :  '  I  will  so  do,  the  Lord  being  my  helper.'  It  may  be 
observed  here,  that  although  in  the  motlier  Church  of  England,  there 
are  many  ranks  in  the  hierarchy  to  whom  tlie  words  'other  chief  min- 
isters' apply,  such  as  Archdeacons,  Deans,  Canons,  Prebendaries,  &c., 
in  our  branch  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  the  primitive  simplicity  pre- 

4 


26 

That  the  Church  has  sustained  any  harm  by  the  doings  of 
the  Convention,  is  utterly  denied.  It  is  probably  true  enough, 
that  the  violent  and  partial  statement  against  which  the  accused 
arethus  compelled  to  defend  themselves,  together  with  the  various 
anonymous  publications  to  which  it  gave  occasion,  has  injured 
the  Church,  and  degraded  her  ministers  in  the  opinion  of  many, 
far  and  near.  It  is  very  probable  that  the  author  of  the  Mani- 
festo has  done  more  mischief  by  the  rashness  of  that  single  act, 
than  the  labors  of  many  years  may  repair.  And  it  ought  to 
teach  all  men,  especially  clergymen,  a  lesson  of  caudon,  how 
the  dangerous  facilities  of  the  press  are  abused,  since  the  same 
intemperance  which,  when  confined  to  conversation,  evaporates 
and  is  forgotten,  when  transferred  to  type,  may  become  a 
moral  epidemic,  diffusing  its  baneful  influence  to  an  incalcula- 
ble extent,  and  invading  the  peace  and  comfort  of  thousands. 
It  is  a  wholesome  adage  that  '  litera  scripta  manet,^  and  those 
who  are  fond  of  writing,  and  particularly  of  printing  what  they 
write,  would  do  well  to  adopt  it  for  a  motto.  But  all  this  is 
wide  of  die  doings  of  the  Convention.  That  body  assembled, 
listened  with  great  pleasure  to  an  excellent  sermon  from  Mr. 
Doane  on  the  Unity  of  the  Spirit,  elected  its  officers  in  quiet, 
and  adjourned  in  peace.  And  although  on  the  next  day  some 
members  of  the  Convention  produced  a  very  painful  fermenta- 
tion, by  attempting  to  nullify  and  destroy  the  proceedings  of 
the  previous  session,  yet  the  Convention  refused  to  sanction 
the  disorganizing  principle,  and  closed  its  proceedings  in  har- 
mony and  order.  There  the  matter  ought  to  have  ended. 
Too  much  had  been  said  already ;  but  it  was  only  right  to  set 
it  down  to  the  score  of  human  infirmity,  and  the  sooner  it  was 
forgotten  the  better.  The  Convention  did  not  enter  a  libel 
on  its  journal,  and  scatter  it  to  the  winds  of  heaven.  The 
Church  did  not  direct  the  printing  of  a  '  Manifesto,'  nor  appoint 
its  author  as  the  organ  of  her  sentiments.  The  Bishop  who  is 
the  only  permanent  Executive  of  our  Ecclesiastical  system,  did 

vails,  -which  at  present  confines  the  application  of  these  vows  to  the 
Bishop  only.  And  very  manifest  it  is,  that  promises  so  made,  at  the 
time  of  ordination,  with  an  appeal  to  the  help  of  God,  and  under  all  the 
circumstances  of  an  oath  of  the  most  solemn  character,  cannot  lawful- 
ly be  trifled  with,  or  lightly  construed  away.  Good  men  may  differ  as 
to  the  definition  of  this  obedience  and  submission,  and  it  is  easy  to 
imagine  times  and  circumstances  when  the  effort  to  play  the  Episcopal 
tyrant  would  make  resistance  a  duty.  But  in  our  day,  all  the  danger 
seems  to  be  upon  the  other  side. 


27 

not  directly  nor  indirectly  countenance  an  assumption,  for  which 
it  is  believed  that  the  experience  of  the  American  Cliurch 
contains  neither  precedent  nor  parallel.  And,  if  it  be  asked, 
who  has  set  up  this  new  tribunal  of  censorship  over  Bishop 
and  clergy?  we  answer,  in  the  language  of  the  Prospectus  of 
the  'Banner'  itself,  that  the  paper  was  '  established  solely  on 
iridividual  responsibility.''  On  the  same  individual  responsi- 
bility, then,  let  the  doings  of  its  Editor  rest,  and  let  the  evil 
consequences  of  this  extraordinary  arraignment,  in  which  he 
fulfils  the  treble  office  of  party,  witness,  and  judge,  be  placed  to 
his  credit,  and  to  the  credit  of  those  who  choose  to  vouch  for 
him.     The  Church  is  free  ! 

But  wc  do  not  think  it  fair  to  rest  this  question  here.  The 
doings  of  the  Convention  gave  the  Bishop  a  Standing  Commit- 
tee, the  majority  of  whom,  in  the  clerical  branch,  may  be  relied 
on  to  accord  with  his  views  and  strengthen  the  wholesome  in- 
fluence of  his  advice  and  example.  The  candidates  formerly 
rejected,  have  been  ordained,  and  are  now  quietly  and  happily 
performing  their  ministerial  duties  to  regular  parishes,  previous- 
ly destitute,  and  in  danger  of  falling  into  decay.  And  the  laity 
of  the  Church  have  discovered  the  value  and  importance  of  that 
admirable  feature  in  our  Ecclesiastical  constitution,  which  en- 
ables them,  in  times  of  difficulty,  to  rally  round  their  Bishop 
and  sustain  him  in  the  official  government  which  belongs  to  his 
station.  Nor,  after  all,  is  it  so  much  to  be  lamented  that  even 
the  delegation  to  the  General  Convention  should  be  so  consti- 
tuted, as  to  show  to  the  Church  at  large,  the  substantial  respect 
in  which  the  character  of  Bishop  Griswold  is  held  in  Massa- 
chusetts. It  is  well  that  the  principle  of  unity  should  be  car- 
ried out  as  much  as  may  be,  so  long  as  there  is,  in  our  Bishops, 
no  desire  to  usurp  authority,  and  so  long  as  there  is,  in  our 
clergy  and  laity,  no  tame  and  implicit  servility  of  acquiescence. 
Of  neither  of  these  can  any  man  be  afraid,  who  knows  the 
Cliurch  in  Massachusetts.  A  ruler  more  meek,  and  a  people 
more  free,  the  dream  of  the  poet  could  hardly  picture. 

And  now  that  the  writer  has  closed  his  task,  he  trusts  that 
he  has  redeemed  his  pledge  to  perform  it,  without  '  returning 
railing  for  railing,'  or  forgetting  the  maxims  of  christian  tempe- 
rance and  moderation.  Any  serious  departure  from  these 
maxims  he  would  be  among  the  first  to  acknowledge  and  deplore. 
He  is  fully  aware  that  he  should   make  the  largest  allowances 


28 

for  the  errors  of  his  brethren,  'remembering  that  he  himself, 
also,  is  compassed  with  infirmity.'  Personal  unkindness  to- 
wards any  of  them,  he  has  none  5  and  his  unwillingness  to  dis- 
play even  the  appearance  of  it,  would  have  led  him  to  bear  the 
imputation  of  being  one  of  those  who  '  hate  the  light,  lest  their 
deeds  should  he  reproved,''  rather  than  take  up  the  pen  of  argu- 
ment, if  the  character  of  others  and  the  interests  of  the  Church 
had  not  induced  his  friends  to  put  this  defence  upon  him.  The 
truth  indeed  required  '  plainness  of  speech;'  but  the  writer  has 
anxiously  endeavored  to  be  on  his  guard  against  the  common 
vice  of  controversy,  where  the  necessity  of  self-defence  is  made 
an  excuse  for  aggression.  If  he  does  not  greatly  deceive  him- 
self, he  has  long  since  framed  the  best  apology  he  could  for  the 
very  mistakes  which  he  has  been  called  upon  to  rectify.  He  holds 
himself  ready  to  allow  the  virtues,  to  admire  the  talents,  and  to 
rejoice  in  the  usefulness  of  those,  whose  Ecclesiastical  and  edi- 
torial course  he  has  been  compelled  to  disapprove  ;  and  while 
he  does  not  affect  to  be  insensible  to  injury,  as  he  trusts  that  he 
is  not  ungrateful  for  favor,  he  feels  that  it  ought  to  be  very 
easy  for  him  to  forgive,  who  has  so  much  to  be  forgiven. 

JOHN  H.  HOPKINS. 


APPENDIX. 


The  foregoing  Defence  has  been  submitted  to  me  in  manu- 
script. So  far  as  my  knowledge  and  recollection  of  facts  stated,  or 
circumstances  alluded  to,  extend,  it  appeared  to  me  to  be  cor- 
rect; and  I  humbly  hope  that  its  publication,  through  God's 
blessing,  may  serve  to  rectify  some  wrong  impressions,  respect- 
ing our  late  Convention.  Alexander  V.  Griswold, 

Bishop  of  the  Eastern  Diocese. 


I  have  examined  the  foregoing  Defence,  and  have  no  hesita- 
tion whatever  in  certifying,  that  I  think  it  substantially  correct. 

T.  Edsox, 
Rector  of  St.  Ami's  Church,  Loivell. 


Having  read  the  foregoing  very  able  and  conclusive  refu- 
tation of  the  Manifesto,  the  following  testimony  is  offered  in  re- 
lation to  facts  within  my  personal  knowledge. 

It  is  a  matter  of  notoriety  that  the  state  of  the  Church  in  Massa- 
chusetts was  peaceful  and  harmonious  until  recently.  This  re- 
sulted, however,  not  from  the  absence  of  diversity  of  sentiment 
in  polity  and  doctrine,  but  of  any  such  intolerant  measures  on  the 
part  of  those  who  were  in  power,  and  who  assumed  to  be  higher 
than  mere  churchmen,  as  rendered  resistance  a  conscientious 
duty.  During  the  last  two  or  three  years,  the  church,  under 
the  conduct  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Doane,  has  been  assuming  a  bellig- 
erent attitude.  In  the  management  of  the  3Iissionary  Society, 
of  the  official  concerns  of  the  church,  and  of  the  more  private 
subordinate  means  of  giving  character  to  a  cause,  the  gener- 
al aspect  of  measures  was  decidedly  partizan.  Harmony 
was  preserved  by  submission  and  conciliation  on  the  part  of  a 
minority  of  the  clergy,  in  which  they  were  in  no  small  degree 
aided  by  the  able  counsels  and  peaceful  spirit  of  one  whose  re- 
moval we  have  had  occasion  to  lament,  and  still  more  by  those 


30 

of  him   who  has  been   so  eminently  an   example   of  christian 
meekness. 

The  peace  of  the  Church  might  have  continued  undisturbed, 
but  for  the  occurrence  of  some  such  oppressive  and  high-hand- 
ed stretch  of  power  as  that  of  the  Standing  Committee  in  re- 
fusing to  extend  the  dispensary  provision  of  the  Canon  to  two 
Candidates  for  orders,  in  the  face  of  ample  testimonials  to  their 
fitness,  of  the  most  pressing  necessities  of  the  Church,  and  of 
the  anxious  desire  of  the  Bishop.  This,  and  not  any  party  ob- 
ject, was  the  single  cause  of  division  in  the  recent  elections 
of  the  members  of  the  Standing  Committee  ;  and  it  was  in  an- 
ticipation of  another  still  more  intolerant  measure  that  a  di- 
vision occurred  in  relation  to  delegates  to  the  General  Con- 
vention. I  refer  to  a  threatened  opposition  on  the  part  of  Mr. 
Doane  and  his  friends  to  the  consecration  of  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
Smith  and  Mcllvaine  as  not  '  apt  and  meet  '  for  the  office  of 
Bishop  on  the  sole  ground  of  their  not  being  high  Churchmen. 

It  would  extend  this  communication  too  far  to  go  into  the 
particulars  of  the  palpable  misapprehension  of  facts  which  per- 
vades the  unfortunate  Manifesto.  It  may  be  sufficient  to  op- 
pose a  denial,  and  to  challenge  proof  in  regard  to  the  charges 
of  unjustifiable  measures  and  partizan  arts  in  accomplishing 
the  results  of  the  late  elections.  An  examination  of  one  or  two 
of  them  will  afford  a  clue  to  the  explanation  of  the  residue. 

The  prayer  meeting  which  was  held  on  the  morning  of  the 
Convention  at  Bedford  St.  Chapel,  of  which  public  notice  was 
given,  and  which  was  begun,  continued,  and  ended  in  the 
spirit  of  devotion,  has  been  branded  with  the  charge  of  being 
perverted  to  unholy  and  partizan  purposes,  on  the  ground  of  a 
single  inquiry  being  made,  after  the  conclusion  of  the  services, 
and  as  we  were  about  separating,  in  relation  to  what  was  in- 
tended to  be  done  in  the  Convention  ;  although  the  question 
was  instantly  met  and  silenced  by  an  intimation  that  the  time 
and  place  were  unsuitable  for  the  subject.  The  explanation 
was  given  by  the  writer  to  Mr.  Doane  as  being  susceptible  of 
the  clearest  proof,  and  he  professed  himself  satisfied  with  it. 
Yet  it  was  subsequently  repeated,  and  at  length  found  its  way 
into  a  public  journal,  in  the  form  of  a  deliberate  charge. 

The  only  remaining  point  that  I  shall  notice  is  the  perver- 
sion of  a  conversation  held  between  the  writer  and  Mr.  Newton 
respecting  the  ticket  for  delegates,  so  as  to  implicate  my  char 
acter  to  a  painful,  if  not  a  ruinous  extent.  The  charge  is  as 
follows — '  For  the  delegation  to  the  General  Convention,  it 
was  expressly  stated  to  Mr.  Newton,  that  no  ticket  in  opposi- 
tion to  that  formed  by  filling  the  vacancies  in  the  old,  would 
be  run.       But  little  confidence,  of  course,   could   be   placed, 


31 

after  the  recent   experience   in  relation  to   the   Standing   Com- 
mittee, in  such  a  declaration.'' 

I  subjoin  the  testimony  of  ]\Ir.  Newton  and  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  Mr.  Doane  as  to  the  utter  groundlessness  of  this  cruel 
and  libellous  charge.  In  answer  to  a  request  on  my  part  for 
explanation,  Mr.  Newton  wrote  me  as  follows: — 'I  did  not 
so  report  the  conversation  that  took  place  between  us  as  to 
justify  the  accusation  of  Mr.  Doane,  that  you  disavowed  the  in- 
tention of  running  a  counter  ticket.  The  instant  I  saw  that 
statement  in  the  "  Banner  of  the  Church,"  1  wrote  to  Mr. 
Doane,  and  acquainted  him  that  no  such  understanding  existed; 
and  he  has  promised  to  make  the  proper  explanation  at  the  proper 
time.  So  careful  was  I,  in  this  respect,  that  I  did  not  allow  a 
single  post  to  escape  me  without  this  explanation  being  made.' 

These  explanations  may  be  sufficient  to  demonstrate  that  the 
rashness  of  this  public  accuser  of  his  brethren  in  taking  up  with 
loose  reports,  aided  by  a  misguided  imagination  and  excited 
feelings,  gave  the  coloring  of  criminality  to  the  most  guiltless 
and  justifiable  occurrences  in  connexion  with  the  late  Conven- 
tion of  Massachusetts.  John  West, 

Rector  of  St.  Thomas''s  Church,  Taunton. 


Having  read,  in  manuscript,  the  foregoing  Defence,  &c.,  the 
subscriber  freely  offers,  in  reference  to  it,  the  foIlo»vinT: — 

He  had  been  a  clergyman  of  the  Diocese  of  JMassachusetts 
for  a  few  days  only  before  its  late  Convention  ;  and  is,  therefore, 
destitute  of  any  personal  acquaintance  with  the  state  of  the 
Church  previous  to  that  time.  With  the  doings  of  the  Conven- 
tion itself,  however,  and  with  what  has  since  transpired  as  its 
consequences,  he  is  familiar. 

So  far,  then,  as  the  facts,  embraced  in  the  foregoing  defence, 
fall  within  the  period  of  his  residence  in  Boston,  he  can  testify 
that  they  are  not  only  substantially,  but  even  minutely  cor- 
rect ;— while  the  reflections  and  reasonings  upon  them  are  such 
as  meet  his  entire  and  cordial  approbation. 

With  regard  to  the  meeting,  at  which  he  was  present,  for 
early  devotion  on  the  morning  of  the  first  day  of  the  Conven- 
tion, he  declares  his  entire  ignorance  of  any  circumstance,  de- 
rogatory to  its  character  as  a  meeting  for  purely  religious  ex- 
ercises. It  was  begun,  continued  and  ended  in  a  reljo-ious 
manner,  and  without  any  consultation,  in  reference  to  the  busi- 
ness and  Elections  of  the  Convention.  The  only  remark  even, 
which  he  heard  after  the  close  of  the  exercises,  in  relation  to 
that  business  and  those  elections,  was  promptly  met  by  the  sen- 
timent, that  neither  the  time  nor  the  place  was  appropriate  to 


32 

the  subject.  No  religious  meeting,  he  believes,  was  ever  more 
strictly  confined  than  this  to  its  proper  object,  prayer  and  ex- 
hortation to  christian  duty. 

During  the  transactions  of  the  first  day  of  Convention,  he 
saw  no  evidence  of  previous  party  organization  amongst  those 
who  made  the  elections,  which,  on  the  succeeding  day,  were 
sought  to  be  set  aside.  He  was  aware  of  no  general  ticket 
agreed  on  by  them.  He  witnessed  no  stratagem.  He  heard 
of  no  secret  concert.  That  there  was  a  disposition,  on  the  part 
of  different  individuals,  to  elect  different  candidates,  he  was,  in- 
deed, apprized.  But,  during  the  whole  election,  he  saw  nothing, 
at  least  amongst  those,  who  are  defended  in  the  foregoing  state- 
ments, which  is  not  usual  in  all  similar  Conventional  elec- 
tions ; — nothing,  unbecoming  the  serious  importance  of  the 
business  in  which  they  were  engaged. 

As  to  the  debate  on  the  second  day  of  Convention,  although 
the  motion,  which  introduced  it,  was,  to  him,  a  matter  of  utter 
surprise,  yet  he  saw  nothing  in  the  spirit,  with  which,  on  the 
part  of  those  who  maintained  the  constitutionality  of  the  elec- 
tions, it  was  conducted,  but  what  was  dignified  and  befitting 
an  Ecclesiastical  Assembly.  To  his  mind,  the  arguments 
used  by  both  the  Bishop  and  the  members  who  accorded  with 
him,  were  singularly  convincing  ;  and  to  the  very  close  of  the 
discussion,  he  was  constrained  to  admire  the  propriety  as  well  as 
the  force  with  which  the  latter,  in  support  of  their  Bishop  and 
of  preceding  Conventions,  met  and  resisted  what  appeared  to 
him  an  altogether  unparalleled  movement  in  the  annals  of  Con- 
ventional doings. 

Finally,  as  to  what  has  transpired  since  the  Convention,  in 
the  article  in  the  'Banner  of  the  Church,'  and  in  the  proposal  of 
E.  A.  Newton,  Esq.  to  the  delegates  to  the  General  Conven- 
tion, he  fully  concurs  in  the  statements  and  Defence  by  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Hopkins,  to  which  this  is  appended. 

JoHX  S.   Stone, 
Rector  of  St.  PanPs   Church,  Boston. 


Having  read  the  foregoing  Defence,  I  hereby  declare  that,  to 
the  best  of  my  knowledge  and   belief,  it  is  substantially  correct. 

So  far  as  my  knowledge  and  belief  extend,  the  elections 
were  conducted  as  they  have  been  from  time  immemorial,  and 
effected  by  as  fair  and  honorable  means  as  on  any  former  occa- 
sion. 

It  has  been  said,  that  the  Episcopal  visitation  holden  at 
Taunton  and  at  other  places  in  May  last,  was  abused,  by  the  use  of 
partizan  arts,  and  for  the  promotion  of  party  purposes.     Having 


33 

been  present  on  these  several  occasions,  it  affords  me  much 
satisfaction  to  state,  that  such  was  not  the  case  ;  unless  the  piety 
and  zeal  evinced  by  the  Bishop  and  clergy  present,  in  perform- 
ing divine  service,  and  preaching  the  gospel,  for  several  succes- 
sive days,  can  be  so  construed. 

Nor  have  I  knowledge  of  any  parish  being  organized,  or  re- 
vived for  temporary  purposes,  or  by  artificial  means,  with  a 
view  to  any  special  results  having  relation  to  that  Convention. 

As  it  has  been  more  than  intimated,  however,  that  such  was  the 
case,  in  regard  to  the  ancient  church  at  Hopkinton,  perhaps  the 
following  facts,  may  serve  to  show  that  such  an  assertion  has 
no  foundation  in  truth. 

The  church  in  that  place  was  first  established  about  the  year 
1747,  by  the  Rev.  Roger  Price,  Commissary  to  the  Bishop  of 
London.  That  gentleman  endowed  it  with  a  valuable  glebe,  of 
nearly  two  hundred  acres,  for  the  benefit  of  a  clergyman  per- 
forming service,  according  to  the  Liturgy  of  the  Church  there, 
forever.  This  Church,  like  many  others  in  our  land,  from  mea- 
sures growing  out  of  the  revolutionary  war,  became  almost  ex- 
tinct ;  nor,  until  1810,  was  any  attempt  made  for  its  resuscitation. 
At  that  time,  an  act  of  incorporation  was  obtained  from  the  State 
Legislature.  A  small,  but  neat  edifice  was  erected,  and  consecra- 
ted to  the  service  of  Almighty  God,  by  Bishop  Griswold,  in  1818; 
since  M'hich,  to  the  present  time,  it  has  been  considered  a  mis- 
sionary station,  supplied  at  intervals,  and  for  a  longer  or  shorter 
period,  by  the  Rev.  Addison  Searle,  Wm.  T.  Potter,  James  H. 
Tyng,  James  Morss  Tappan,  6lc, 

For  more  than  ten  years  past,  being  the  nearest  Episcopal 
clergyman,  I  have  occasionally  visited  tiiis  vacant  parish,  for  the 
purpose  of  holding  divine  service,  &c.  ;  and  during  the  greater 
part  of  1831-2  officiated  there  one  Sunday  in  almost  every  month. 
So  favorable  was  the  prospect  of  this  little  church  becoming 
numerous  and  flourishing,  that,  in  the  spring  of  the  present  year 
the  Rev,  Messrs.  Doane,  Wells,  Blake,  Croswell,  Boyle,  Price, 
&LC.,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Eaton,  consented  to  offici- 
ate there,  each  one  Sunday,  until  some  clergyman  could  be  found 
disposed  to  assume  the  charge  of  this  congregation. 

At  the  visitation  before  referred  to,  the  Rt.  Rev.  the  Bishop, 
admitted  Mr.  Ephraim  Munroe  to  the  holy  order  of  Deacons,  in 
St.  Thomas's  Church,  Taunton.  Being  in  the  city  soon  after 
endeavoring,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Doane,  to  secure  the 
services  of  some  one  of  the  clergy  to  officiate  the  following 
Sunday  at  Hopkinton  ;  finding  this  impracticable,  as  it  was  the 
plan  just  named,  of  the  settled  clergy  supplying  tiiem  regularly 
for  a  time  ;  Mr.  Doane  inquired  why  Mr.  Munroe,  would  not 
go  there?     In  reply,  it  was  stated,  that  there  was  a  disposition 


34 

evinced  to  retain  him  in  R,  Island ;  and  that  being  a  native  of 
that  State,  he  might  prefer  remaining  there.  The  question  was 
then  proposed,  whether  the  Missionary  Society  would  appropriate 
a  hundred  dollars  for  Mr.  Munroe's  benefit,  should  he  consent  to 
become  their  missionary  at  Hopkinton  ?  Mr.  Doane  did  not 
know  the  amount  of  funds  the  society  might  have  at  their  dis- 
posal, but  thought,  that  on  application,  such  an  appropriation 
would  be  made. 

I  held  no  correspondence  with  Mr.  Munroe,  in  regard  to  his 
going  to  Hopkinton,  nor  had  I  the  pleasure  of  again  seeing  him, 
until  he  very  unexpectedly  called  at  my  residence,  and  requested 
a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  wardens  of  that  Church.  This 
being  cheerfully  granted,  he  proceeded  to  the  place  of  his  desti- 
nation, and  has  continued  there  to  the  present  time,  in  the  faith- 
ful, and  it  is  hoped  successful,  discharge  of  the  duties  pertaining 
to  his  sacred  oflice. 

Mr.  Munroe,  of  course,  attended  the  annual  Convention,  and 
took  his  seat  among  the  members  of  that  body,  as  other  clergy- 
men in  like  circumstances  had  always  done,  no  man  forbidding 
him.  He  was  attended  by  a  lay  delegate  ;  and  it  will  be  found 
on  inspecting  the  journals,  that,  no  Church  in  this  Common- 
wealth, destitute  of  a  settled  Pastor,  has  so  uniformly  been 
represented  in  Convention  as  St.  Paul's,  Hopkinton. 

It  may  also  be  proper  for  me  to  state,  having  been  present  at 
a  'prayer  meeting'  held  in  Bedford  Street  Chapel,  on  the  morn- 
ing of  June  20th,  that  said  meeting  was  not,  to  the  best  of  my 
knowledge  and  belief,  used  in  any  way  for  party  purposes.  And, 
further,  that  the  sole  object  of  the  clergy  in  remaining,  for  a  few 
minutes  after  the  congregation  had  retired  from  the  chapel,  was, 
to  make  arrangements  for  similar  services  during  the  session  of 
our  Convention.  This,  and  no  other  business  was  transacted 
there. 

That  God  may  overrule  these  unhappy  divisions  to  the  glory 
of  his  name,  and  for  the  good  of  his  Church,  is  the  fervent 
prayer  of  Alfred  L.  Baury, 

Rector  of  St.  Marifs  Church,  JYewton. 


As  it  respects  the  alleged  charges  in  the  44th  number 
of  the  Banner  of  the  Church,  against  a  number  of  the 
clergy  and  laity  of  this  Commonwealth, — I  hereby  testify  to 
the  following  facts  : — 1st.  That,  until  our  Convention  of 
1829,  the  most  perfect  harmony  and  union  existed  among 
our  brethren.  Since  that  period,  however,  an  increasing  dif- 
ference  of  opinion  has  prevailed,  on  several  important  sub- 


S5 

jects. — 2d.  As  it  respects  the  late  visit  of  our  beloved  Bishop, 
to  Bridgewater,  Hanover,  Marshficld,  Stc,  it  was  not  abused 
to  any  party  purposes  whatever,  to  my  knowledge  or  belief. 
— 3d.  No  parish  has  been  organized  or  revived  in  this  Common- 
wealth for  any  temporary  or  party  purpose,  to  my  knowledge 
or  belief — 4th.  I  was  present  at  the  prayer  meeting  in  Bed- 
ford Street  Chapel,  on  the  morning  of  June  20th  ;  but  am 
wholly  ignorant  of  its  being  abused  to  any  party  purpose  what- 
ever, nor  do  I  believe  it  was  so  abused. — 5th.  As  it  respects 
the  choice  of  Standing  Committee  and  delegates  to  the  General 
Convention,  I  know  of  no  stratagems  or  unfair  means  being 
used,  but  believe  the  result  of  the  elections  to  be  the  honest 
and  conscientious  voice  of  the  Church  in  this  Commonwealth. 

Calvin  Wolcot, 
Rector  of  St.  Andreiv^s  Church,  Taunton. 


With  respect  to  the  alleged  charges  which  appeared  in  the 
44th  number  of  the  Banner  of  the  Church,  against  a  number 
of  our  brethren,  (clerical  and  lay)  in  allusion  to  the  proceed- 
ings of  our  late  Convention,  I  hereby  testify  to  the  following 
facts. 

1st.  That  when  I  took  charge  of  the  Parish  of  Trinity 
Church,  Bridgewater,  in  April,  1831,  I  was  perfectly  sensible 
that  a  serious  difference  of  sentiment  and  opinion  then  existed 
among  our  brethren,  upon  some  points  greatly  affecting  the 
prosperity  of  the  church. 

2d.  That  if  the  elections  of  Standing  Committee  and  dele- 
gates to  the  General  Convention,  (in  this  State)  were  effected 
as  the  result  of  jiarty  organization,  or  secret  concert,  I  can 
only  say,  /  am  ignorant  of  it.  That  we  frequently  spoke  to 
one  another,  however,  upon  the  subject  of  existing  evils,  and 
how  they  might  be  remedied,  I  do  not  deny  ;  but  so  far  as  my 
knowledge  extends,  it  was  done  in  the  most  frank  and  open 
manner. 

3d.  That,  as  it  respects  the  late  visit  of  our  venerable  Dio- 
cesan, to  Taunton,  Bridgewater,  &c.,  it  was  not  at  all  abused 
by  the  use  of  any  partizan  arts,  or  for  the  promotion  of  any 
partizan  purposes  whatever,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and 
belief;  and  1  humbly  hope  and  pray,  that  the  purposes  for  which 
it  was  undertaken,  viz.,  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  extension 
or  building  up  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  may  be  fullij  real- 
ized. 

4th.  That  no  parish  has  been  recently  organized  or  revived 
for  any  temporarij  or  party   purpose,  within  the  limits  of  this 


36 

Commonwealth,  to  my  knowledge,  with  a  view  of  securing  any 
special  result  in  the  elections  or  other  doings  of  the  late  Con- 
vention. 

5th.  That  I  attended  the  prayer  meeting  at  Bedford  Street 
Chapel,  on  the  morning  of  the  20th  June  last,  but  am  entirely 
ignorant  of  its  being  abused  to  any   party   purposes  whatever. 

Matt.  Munroe, 
Minister  of  Trinity  Church,  Bridgewater. 


Whereas  an  editorial  article  in  the  44th  number  of  a  paper, 
called  the  '  Banner  of  the  Church,'  sets  forth  allegations  which 
charge  a  large  portion  of  the  clergy,  and  a  majority  of  the  laity, 
who  were  members  of  the  Massachusetts  Convention  in  June 
last,  with  unfair  and  dishonorable  conduct  in  relation  to  the 
election  of  Standing  Committee  and  delegates  to  the  General 
Convention,  the  undersigned,  lay  delegates  to  the  Convention 
first  named,  do  hereby  declare  that  we  believe  said  allegations 
to  be  both  unjust  and  untrue.  Henry  Codman, 

James  C.  Dunn, 
Benjamin  Howard, 
Thomas  W.  Haskins, 
Theron  Metcalf, 
Elisha  Thayer, 
John  Howard, 
John  Parnell, 
Stephen  B.  Ives. 


The  construction  given  to  the  constitution  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  by  the  late 
Convention,  on  the  second  day  of  its  session,  having  been  cen- 
sured in  the  44th  number  of  the  Banner  of  the  Church,  as  detailed 
in  the  foregoing  defence,  I  have  been  requested  to  state  a  fact 
within  my  own  knowledge,  which  shows,  that  the  question  was 
not  a  new  one,  but  had  been  settled,  as  far  as  the  opinion  of 
the  Convention  could  settle  it,  in  the  manner  stated  by  the 
Bishop  of  the  Diocese. 

Some  eight  or  ten  years  ago,  at  a  Convention  held  at  St, 
Paul's  Church,  Boston,  one  of  the  members  called  for  the  read- 
ing of  the  constitution.  I  was  at  the  time  a  member.  I  well 
recollect,  that  there  appeared  to  me  an  apparent  difference  be- 
tween our  manner  of  proceeding,  and  the  words  of  the  con- 
stitution. 

I  had  never  known  an  instance  of  voting  by  orders,  though  I 
had  often  been  a  member  of  the  Convention.    One  of  the  clergy 


37 

r 

stated,  that  the  construction  of  the  constitution  had  been  settled 
by  practice  ;  that  from  the  adoption  of  the  constitution,  voting 
by  orders  had  not  been  deemed  necessary,  unless  called  for  by 
some  member  present.  To  this  there  appeared  to  be  a  general 
assent.  On  this  occasion  no  motion  was  made,  and  I  presume 
no  notice  was  taken  of  it  on  the  record.  I  know  not  whether 
any  member  then  present,  except  myself,  recollects  the  dis- 
cussion ;  but  I  considered  it  as  settled,  that  unless  a  vote  by 
orders  were  called  for  by  some  member,  the  votes  might  be 
given  in  the  usual  way.  James  C.  Merrill. 


Although  it  is  entirely  unusual  to  insert  the  whole  of  any  publication, 
to  which  it  is  thought  necessary  to  reply,  yet,  in  the  present  instance,  it 
has  been  determined  that  the  original  '  Manifesto  '  should  be  given  ver- 
batim, in  order  that  every  reader,  who  desires  it,  may  judge  for  himself, 
both  as  to  the  accuracy  of  the  quotations,  and  the  violence  of  the  provo- 
cation. 

[Extract  from  tlic  '  Banner  of  the  Churcli,'  published  Juno  30th,  1832.] 

CONVENTION  OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 

This  Ecclesiastical  body  held  its  annual  session,  by  appointment,  on 
Wednesday,  the  20th  instant,  in  Christ  Church,  in  the  city  of  Boston. 
The  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Griswold  presided;  and  2G  Clergymen,  and 
39  lay  delegates,  representing  21  parishes,  were  present.  The  Rev. 
Thomas  W.  Coit  was  re-elected  Secretary,  and,  in  his  absence,  on  a 
journey  for  the  recovery  of  his  health,  the  Rev.  William  Croswell 
was  elected  Secretary,  and  the  Rev.  William  T.  Potter  Assistant 
Secretary,  pro  tern.  Morning  prayers,  at  the  opening  of  the  Conven- 
tion, were  read  by  the  Rev.  Titus  Strong,  Rector  of  St.  James' 
Church,  Greenfield,  and  the  Convention  Sermon  preached  by  the  Rev. 
George  W.  Doane,  Rector  of  Trinity  Church,  Boston,  from  Philip- 
pians  i.  27;  Stand  fast  in  one  spirit,  with  one  mind  striving  together  for 
the  faith  of  the  Gospel.  The  Convention,  by  a  standing  rule,  declines 
to  print  any  sermon  delivered  before  it.  At  the  request,  however,  of 
the  members  of  the  Convention,  presented  as  individuals,  the  Sermon 
has  been  put  to  press. — The  Rev.  George  C  V.  Eastman  was  admit- 
ted to  the  order  of  Deacons,  and  the  holy  communion  administered 
by  the  Bishop,  assisted  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Strong. — There  were  also,  dur- 
ing the  session  of  the  Convention,  and  by  an  unanimous  vote,  early 
morning  prayers  on  Thursday,  in  Trinity  Church,  by  the  Bishop;  and 
on  the  same  day  the  usual  morning  service  at  the  opening  of  the  Con- 
vention by  the  Rev.  James  Monss,  D.D.,  Rector  of  St.  Paul's  Church, 
Newburyport;  a  sermon  in  Trinity  Church,  at  3,  P.  M.,  by  appointment 
of  the  Bishop,  by  the  Rev.  Salmon  Wheaton,  Rector  of  Trinity 
Church,  Nev.'port,  R.  1.,  from  St.  Luke  xi.  32;  The  men  of  Nineveh 
shall  rise  up  in  the  judgment  with  the  men  of  this  generation  and  con- 
demn it,  for  they  repented  at  the  j)reaching  of  Jonas;   and  a  sermon  in 


38 

St.  Paul's  Church  at  7,  P.  M.,  also  by  appointment  of  the  Bishop,  by 
the  Rev.  Titus  Strong,  from  Amos  vi.  1 ;  IVo  to  them  that  are  at  ease  in 
Zion. 

There  was  no  extraordinary  business  transacted  at  the  Convention, 
though  some  of  the  ordinary  business,  as  will  be  seen  below,  was  done  in 
an  extraordinary  manner,  and  led  to  extraordinary  results.  Passing  this 
over,  which  occupied  the  greater  part  of  Thursday,  the  remaining  busi- 
ness was  the  adoption  of  the  new  constitution,  certain  amendments  to 
which  were  laid  over  for  adoption  at  the  next  Convention  ;  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  Rev.  Daniel  L.  B.  Goodwin  and  the  Rev.  William  T.  Potter, 
as  preachers  before  the  next  Convention  ;  and  the  nomination  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Eaton,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Doane,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ballard,  Dr.  E.  H.  Robbins, 
and  H.  Codnian,  Esq.,  as  Trustees  of  the  General  Seminary. — The  next 
Convention  is  to  be  held  in  Trinity  Church,  Boston,  on  the  third  Wednes- 
day in  June  next  ensuing. 

Standing  Committee,  the  Rev.  George  W.  Doane,  the  Rev.  John  S. 
Stone,  the  Rev.  7'heodore  Edson,  George  Brinley,  Esq.,  Henry  Codman, 
Esq.,  Joseph  Foster,  Esq. — Delegates  to  the  General  Convention,  the  Rev. 
Theodore  Edson,  the  Rev.  John  West,  the  Rev.  John  S.  Stone,  the  Rev. 
Alfred  L.  Baury,  Edward  A.  Newton,  Esq.,  William  A.  Crocker,  Esq., 
Solomon  D.  Townsend,  M.  D.,  Edward  Tuckerman,  Esq.  The  circum- 
stances connected  with  these  elections  were  so  peculiar,  so  wholly  unpre- 
cedented, and  so  ominous,  as  we  think,  of  evil  to  the  Church,  that  a  de- 
tailed account  is  called  for,  as  well  to  prevent  misunderstanding  as  to 
enforce  upon  our  brethren  in  other  places,  and  those  who  may  come  after 
us,  in  these,  a  salutary  admonition.  We  shall  proceed  to  furnish  it  with- 
out fear  or  favor,  speaking  the  truth,  and  endeavoring  to  speak  it  in  love. 
If  it  be  said  that  statements  so  particular  and  personal  are  of  questionable 
propriety,  we  answer,  that  before  the  adoption  of  the  measures  which  we 
feel  called  upon  to  discountenance,  no  consideration  should  have  led  us  to 
such  a  course.  The  evil  is  now  done.  Representations  of  it,  distorted 
and  exaggerated,  are  of  course  abroad.  There  should  be  somewhere  an 
authentic  and  unquestionable  narrative.  Such  ours  shall  be.  We  shall 
state  facts  only ;  and  only  such  as  can  be  substantiated  by  legal  evidence. 
It  is  a  painful  necessity  that  we  feel  is  thus  laid  on  us.  We  meet  its 
requisitions  not  so  much  in  self-defence,  as  for  the  benefit  of  others, — that 
they  may  be  on  their  guard  against  the  stratagems  which  we  have  been 
compelled  to  witness ;  that  they  may  see  that  where  injuries  so  sustained 
cannot  be  retrieved,  a  protest  may  at  least  be  recorded.  We  should  gladly 
have  kept  silence.  It  is  pain  and  grief  to  us  to  speak.  But  the  record  of 
the  election.s  will  be  supposed  to  carry  with  it  the  expression  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Church  in  Massachusetts.  Such  is  not  the  truth.  We 
are  concerned  to  make  this  contradiction,  not  more  in  justice  to  ourselves, 
than  to  obviate  the  influence  of  a  contrary  belief  on  the  interests  of  the 
Church  at  large. 

We  musi  go  back  a  little  to  make  our  Manifesto  the  more  intelligible 
and  the  more  complete.  Previously  to  the  Convention  of  which  we 
write,  whatever  divisions  in  sentiment  there  may  have  existed  among  the 
Churchmen  of  Massachusetts,  they  were  never  made  apparent  in  the  Con- 
vention. There,  the  proceedings  have  been  almost  always  in  perfect  har- 
mony ;  or,  if  an  honest  difference  of  opinion  were  expressed,  it  bore  no 
marks  of  a  division  on  those  great  and  permanent  principles  which  indi- 
cate the  existence  of  parties.  In  the  Convention  of  1831,  for  instance, 
several  important  measures  were  earnestly  debated,  but  it  was  with  the 
warmth  of  individual  conviction,  not  of  partisan  devotion.  There  were 
diff'erent  opinions  maintained,  but  a  single  interest.  The  elections  were, 
as  in  all  former  cases,  harmonious  :  no  division  of  tickets,  no  disagreement, 


39 

it  is  believed,  as  to  a  single  individual.  These  were,  for  the  Standing 
Committee,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Doane,  Potter,  and  Boyle,  and  Messrs.  Brin- 
ley,  Codman,  and  Clark  ;  for  the  dilcgation  to  the  General  Convention,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Morss,  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Potter,  Doane,  and  Parker,  and  Messrs. 
Newton,  Robbins,  Sargent,  and  Crocker.  During  the  whole  recess  of  the 
Convention,  until  within  two  months,  nothing  was  heard  of  dissatisfaction 
or  division.  There  appeared  to  be  a  perfect  unity  of  interest  in  the  prose- 
cution of  the  affairs  of  the  Church.  The  persons  of  whom  we  now  com- 
plain were  sedulous  and  constant  in /juWzc  declarations  that  we  were  all 
united, — that  there  was  no  party  in  the  fhurch  in  Massachusetts.  In  the 
latter  part  of  the  month  of  April,  the  Standing  Committee  were  to  hold  a 
regular  quarterly  meeting,  at  which'an  application  of  some  importance  was 
to  be  made, — the  particulars  of  the  case  for  simplicity's  sake,  we  now  omit, 
but  are  in  perfect  preparation,  if  called  for,  to  defend  it  to  the  uttermost, — 
the  result  of  which,  interesting  to  several  individuals,  was  to  be  determin- 
ed by  a  reference  to  Canonical  provisions.  Previous  to  this  meeting,  great 
pains  were  taken  to  prejudge  the  case,  and  foreslal  the  decision  of  the  Com- 
mittee ;  and  it  was  more  than  intimated  that  if  the  leading  thus  suggested 
was  not  followed,  the  Standing  Committee  must  be,  in  tlie  dialect  of  the 
day,  '  reformed.'  They  met,  and  decided  the  case,  as  they  conscientious- 
ly believed,  according  to  the  Canons,  and,  as  their  unanimous  resolution 
on  record  declares,  in  reference  to  the  best  interests  of  the  Cliurch.  After 
this,  it  is  well  known  that  the  menaces  of  '  reform  '  were  repeated,  and 
that  great  pains  were  taken,  and  in  one  instance  at  least,  under  the  favor- 
able circumstances  of  an  Ecclesiastical  visitation,  to  enlist  clerical  influ- 
ence to  carry  it  into  effect.  At  the  time  of  the  Convention,  there  was 
among  the  clergy  and  laity  more  or  less  consultation  as  to  the  manner  in 
which  the  vacancies  in  the  two  tickets  (the  Rev.  Mr.  Potter  having  re- 
moved, and  Mr.  Clark  having  died.)  should  be  filled,  and  as  to  other 
changes  necessary  to  be  made  for  ensuring,  in  regard  to  the  delegation  to 
the  General  Convention,  a  full  attendance.  No  caucus  was  held,  and  no 
plans  were  organized  :  but  it  was  generally  understood  that  the  va- 
cancies in  the  Standing  Committee  were  to  be  filled  with  tlie  names  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Coit,  and  Josepli  Foster,  Esq.;  while,  in  the  delegation  to  the 
General  Convention,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Stone  was  to  succeed  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Potter,  and  the  Rev.  Air.  Parker  give  way  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Edson,  who  had 
before  been  in  the  representation  : — the  lay  delegation  to  be,  E.  A.  Newton, 
J.  T.  Apthorp,  H.  Codman,  and  J.  W.  Treadwell,  Esqrs.  For  conveni- 
ence' sake,  some  tickets  were  written,  in  accordance  with  this  understand- 
ing, but  there  was  no  general  concert,  and  no  plan  of  efforts  to  ensure  suc- 
cess ; — simply  because,  being  thought  a  good  ticket,  and  made  without  re- 
ference to  personal  or  party  interest,  it  would  go,  it  was  supposed,  of 
course,  and  perhaps  unanimously.  It  was  not  until  after  the  religious  e.x- 
ercises  at  the  opening  of  the  Convention  that  any  intimation  to  the  con- 
trary was  heard.  It  was  tlien  stated  to  the  present  writer  that  a  ticket  was 
in  circulation,  from  which,  with  the  exception  of  a  single  layman,  the  for- 
mer members  of  the  Standing  Committee  were  entirely  excluded,  and  he 
was  referred  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  West,  as  one  with  whom  any  conference  on 
the  subject  might  be  held.  The  Convention  had  just  been  exhorted  earn- 
estl}',  and  in  terms  of  which  a  very  unanimous  approbation  was  expressed, 
to  stand  fast  in  one  spirit,  and  strive  togrtlicr  with  ojie  mind  for  the  faith  of 
the  Gospel ;  and  in  that  spirit  it  was  felt  that  the  matter  ought  to  be,  and, 
it  was  believed,  might  be,  adjusted.  To  the  desire  expressed  to  Mr.  West, 
that  all  division  of  interest  should  be  avoided,  and  but  one  ticket  run,  he 
witii  apparent  cordiality  assented  ;  and  after  a  conversation,  which  it  is  be- 
lieved was  as  free  and  frank  and  friendly,  on  the  one  side,  as  it  certainly 
was  on  the  other,  the  parties  separated,  with  a  general  agreement  as  to  the 


40 

persons  to  be  supported,  and  a  promise  on  the  part  of  Mr.  West,  that,  if 
found  possible,  on  consultation  with  his  friends,  but  one  ticket  should  be 
run.  The  Convention  then  adjourned  for  dinner,  and  the  feeling  on  the 
writer's  part,  which  he  heartily  expressed  and  encouraged  in  others,  was, 
that  the  Convention  would  go  on,  as  always  before,  in  perfect  harmony  ; 
and  that,  the  fears  of  division  and  dissension  being  dispersed,  the  exhorta- 
tion of  the  Apostle  would  be  felt  and  followed  by  all.  At  the  opening  of 
the  afternoon  session,  Mr.  West  was  called  on  for  the  answer  of  his  friends, 
and,  to  the  astonishment  of  all  who  had  lieard  of  the  former  conversation, 
his  reply  was,  that  no  agreement  could  be  made,  and  that  the  ticket  for  the 
Standing  Committee  was  the  following  :  Rev.  Messrs.  Baurj',  Edson,  and 
Stone,  and  Messrs.  S.  A.  Parker,  Codman,  and  Howard.  The  election  then 
ensued,  and  resulted,  without  effort  or  intervention  on  the  part  of  those 
who  voted  for  the  former  Committee,  as  follows : 

'  The  Rev.  Mr.  Strong,  from  tlis  Committee,  reported  that  tlie  whole  number  of  votes 
collected  was  53  ;  necessary  to  a  choice,  27  ; — ;ind  the  following  gentlemen,  having  re- 
ceived more  than  that  number,  were  returned  as  duly  elected ;  From  the  Clergy,  the  Rev. 
George  W.  Doane  ;  from  the  Laity,  George  Brinley,  Esq.,  Henry  Codman,  Esq.,  Joseph 
Foster,  Esq. 

'  The  places  of  two  of  the  Clerical  membsrs  of  the  Standing  Committee  being  still 
unsupplied,  the  Convention,  on  motion,  proceeded  to  a  second  ballot,  the  same  Committee 
as  before  acting  as  tellers,  and  the  followng  gentlemen  were  returned  as  duly  elected  to 
supply  those  vacancies,  viz.  the  Rev.  John  S.  Stone,  and  the  Rev.  Theodore  Edson.' 
Journal,  p.  10. 

The  conference  thus  far  alluded  to,  it  will  be  seen,  was  entirely  in 
reference  to  the  Standing  Committee.  For  the  delegation  to  the  General 
Convention,  it  was  expressly  stated  to  Mr.  Newton,  that  no  ticket  in  op- 
position to  that  formed  by  filling  the  vacancies  in  the  old,  and  which,  so 
far  from  being  an  exclusive  ticket,  contained  three  of  the  names  returned 
as  elected,  would  be  run.  But  little  confidence,  of  course,  could  be  placed, 
after  the  recent  experience  in  relation  to  the  Standing  Committee,  in  such 
a  declaration.  It  was,  however,  too  late  to  agree  upon  any  course  ;  and  if 
it  had  not  been,  there  was  no  disposition  to  attempt  an  organization,  even 
on  the  ground  of  retaliation.  The  result  of  tlie  election,  which  immediate- 
ly ensued,  appears  from  the  Journal. 

Thus  was  it  seen,  for  the  first  time,  that  an  organization  on  party  prin- 
ciples existed  in  the  Church  of  Massachusetts;  that  it  contemplated  no- 
thing less  than  an  entire  proscription  of  those  in  whom  former  Conven- 
tions had,  year  after  year,  reposed  their  confidence  ;  that  it  was  concerted 
and  carried  into  effect  secretly,  by  all  the  aids  and  appliances  which  in 
political  warfare  are  but  tolerated  ;  and  that  in  accomplishing  its  purposes, 
neither  the  welfare  of  the  Church,  nor  the  rights  of  parishes  and  individu- 
als, nor  the  proprieties  of  time,  or  place,  or  person,  were  to  be  at  all  re- 
garded. Certain  men,  because  they  held  certain  principles,  no  matter  how 
long  their  connection  with  the  councils  of  the  Church  ;  no  matter  how 
identified  the  parishes  which  they  represented  with  its  existence  ;  no  matter 
how  great  the  self-devotion  and  self-sacrifice  of  their  past,  nor  the  ac- 
knowledged value  of  their  present,  services, — were  to  be  proscribed. 
Certain  men,  because  they  did  not  hold  certain  principles,  or  held  them 
lightly,  and  to  the  wind,  no  matter  how  recent  their  connection  with  the 
Church  ;  no  matter  how  unconscious  of  past  services  in  her  behalf,  nor 
how  incompetent  of  future,  were  to  be  elevated  to  her  places  of  confidence 
and  responsibility.  Under  whatever  circumstances  this  might  occur,  it 
were  bad  enough.  But  if  it  were  the  fair  expression  of  the  Church  in 
Massachusetts,  if  the  people  would  have  it  so, — there  were  nothing  to  be 
done  but  to  submit  in  patience.  But  when  it  appeared  clearly  to  be  the 
effect  of  concert  and  exertion,  when  clerical  strength  was  brought  into  the 


41 

State  within  tliree  weeks,  ami  parislies  were  galvanised  into  a  spasmodic 
vitality  for  this  specical  purpose, — when  it  was  seen  and  known,  that  the 
act  of  providence,  or  the  consciousness  of  a  good  cause,  or  pressure  of  en- 
gagements, or,  it  must  be  added,  culpable  indifference,  had  prepared  the 
way  for  an  unquestionable  and  confessed  minority,  under  drill,  and  with 
auxiliary  influences  from  another  State,  to  force  men  upon  the  Conven- 
tion, whom  the  Convention  did  not  approve,  and  to  give  to  the  world  the 
appearance  of  a  dynasty  in  its  councils  which  does  not,  and  which,  we 
pray  God,  never  may,  exist ; — when  these  things  were  so,  it  seemed  that 
in  no  sense  of  duty  to  the  truth,  could  silence  be  permitted  ;  and  that 
though  submission  to  such  a  result  might  be  matter  of  necessity,  acquies- 
cence in  it  were  treason  to  tiie  Church.  Examining  the  matter  under 
these  convictions  and  witli  these  views,  and  appealing  to  former  records, 
and  to  the  constitution  of  the  Church  in  Massachusetts,  it  was  ascertained, 
beyond  the  shadow  of  a  doubt,  that  the  proceedings  of  the  Convention  on 
the  first  day  of  its  session,  and,  of  course,  the  elections,  were  in  contra- 
vention of  the  express  provisions  of  the  second  and  third  articles  of  the 
Constitution  ;*  and  it  was  determined  on,  as  due  to  truth,  to  the  Conven- 
tion, to  the  Church  every  wliere.  to  declare,  and,  if  possible,  to  establish 
the  conviction.  At  the  opening  of  the  Convention,  therefore,  on  the  sec- 
ond day,  the  subject  was  proposed  by  one  who  was  himself  elected,  and  so, 
by  that  circumstance,  as  by  the  devotion  of  his  whole  fortune  to  the  inter- 
ests and  service  of  the  Church,  and  by  the  exemplification  of  her  principles 
in  his  whole  life,  is  raised  above  the  shadow  of  selfish  or  unworthy  im- 
putation. 

'  Edward  A.  Nowton,  Esq.,  rose  and  called  tlio  uttciitioii  of  the  Convention  to  an  ex- 
amination of  the  unconstitutionality  of  the  elections  made  by  this  body,  yesterday ; — 
Whereupon  it  was 

'  Moved,  hy  the  Rev.  Dt.  Moiss,  that  tho  elections  for  Standing  Committee,  and  dele- 
gates to  the  General  Convention,  made  by  this  Convention  yesterday,  being  contrary  to 
the  provisions  of  the  second  and  third  articles  of  the  Constitution,  he  hereby  set  aside.,  as 
null  and  void. 

'This  motion  gave  rise  to  an  animuted  and  protracted  debate,  whicli  continued  till  two 
o'clock,  when  a  motion  was  made  for  an  indefinite  postponement  of  any  farther  consider- 
ation of  the  subject,'     Journal,  p.  11. 

Of  the  manner  in  whicli  the  resolution  of  Dr.  Morss  was  opposed,  and 
its  consequences  sought  to  be  evaded,  we  will  not  speak.  It  will  be  suf- 
ficient in  the  sight  of  all  candid  men,  that  it  was  opposed  at  all.  To  shrink 
from  the  revisai  of  unconstitutional  acts,  to  shrink  from  the  expression  of 
the  sense  of  the  Convention,  whether  they  were,  or  were  not,  constitu- 
tional, to  resort  to  every  parliamentary  device,  to  seek  to  apply  to  tlie  pro- 
verbially informal  proceedings  of  an  ecclesiastical  Convention,  the  strict 
rules  of  the  higiiest  judicial  courts,  and  the  specialities,  the  technicalities, 
the  quibbling  criticisms  that  perplex  the  lowest, — short  of  an  explicit  con- 
fession of  it,  we  know  no  more  conclusive  admission  than  this,  of  wrong 
done,  but  to  be  sustained,  because  the  doers  of  it  have  the  power. — To  have 
reversed  the  proceedings  of  the  previous  day,  however  just,  might  not 
have  been  desirable,  and  was   not  desired.     Had  it  been  desired,  it  could 

*  The  constitutional  provisions  alluded  to  are  these : 

'  Art.  II.  The  clergy  and  lay  deputies  in  Convention  shall  deliberate  in  one  body,  but 
xhall  vote  as  two  distinct  orders  ;  and  the  concurrence  of  both  orders  shall  be  necessary  to 
give  validity  to  every  measure. 

Art.  III.     Each  congregation  represented  in  Convention  «AaZi  Aaoe  one  ro^f.' 

The  elections  were  unconstitutional,  it  was  conlcnd.nl  ;  first,  because  the  clergy  and  laity 
did  not  vote  as  two  distinct  orders  ;  secondly,  because  the  lay  delegation  voted  as  individuals, 
and  not  by  parishes.  To  the  argument  of  usage,  it  was  alleged  in  reply,  that  though  it  might 
explain  of  modify,  it  could  not  annul  the  letter  of  the  Constitution. 

6 


42 

h:asily  have  been  done.  Two  thirds  of  the  Clergy  were  in  favo;  oi'  it, 
The  lay  delegation  from  two  parishes  who  would  have  voted  with  them, 
were  within  reach,  and  could  have  been  brought  in,  to  create  an  even  lay 
vote,  and  so  give  the  vote  to  the  Clergy.  But  it  was  not  attempted.  All 
that  was  aimed  at,  v;as  an  expression  of  the  Convention,  condemnatory 
of  tlie  spirit  and  manner  of  the  elections.  It  was  conclusively  afforded. 
All  that  v/e  now  purpose  to  add  is  the  evidence  of  this  expression,  as  con- 
tained in  the  several  votes.  In  the  morning,  after  much  discussion  of  the 
subject,  an  attempt  was  made  for  an  indefinite  postponement  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Morss'  motion,  and  the  vote  was  taken  under  the  consciousness  that 
those  who  voted  against  it,  were  liable  to  the  charge  of  protracting  an 
irritating  discussion,  and  that  an  attempt  had  been  made,  to  fix  upon  them 
the  responsibility  of  involving  the  whole  proceedings  of  the  Convention 
in  the  unconstitutionality  alleged  against  the  election,  and  thus  dissolving 
its  session.     Yet  the  votes  were, /or  the  indefinite  postponement. 

The  Rev.  Messrs.  Baury,  Edson, 

Everett,  Fenner, 

Goodwin,  Hopkins, 

Stone,  E.  Munro, 

M.  Munro,  Shaw.— 10. 

Against  the  indefinite  postponement; 

The  Rev.  Messrs.  Ballard,  Blaisdale, 

Blake,  Boyle, 

Croswell,  Doane, 

Eastman,  Eaton, 

Jones,  Morss, 

Potter,  Price, 

Strong.  Wells.— 14. 

Now  let  it  be  noted,  that,  of  the  first  named,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Everett  in 
the  afternoon  voted  both  for  the  Rev.  Dr.  Morss'  motion,  and  for  Col.  Ap- 
thorp's  amendment, — that  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Goodwin*  and  Shaw  repeat- 
edly declared,  in  their  places,  their  conviction  that  the  proceedings  were 
unconstitutional, — and  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Haskins,t  who,  at  his  own  re- 
quest, was  excused  from  voting,  made  the  same  declaration ; — and  the 
Clerical  votes  will  virtually  stand  seven  for,  and  eighteen  against,  the  in- 
definite postponement. 

The  votes  of  t!ie  laity  on  the  same  motion  were  as  follows ; 

For  the  indefinite  postponement, 

C  Codman, 

St.  Paul's  Cliurch,  Boston.  <.  Dunn, 

(  Davis. 

/,  f^t        1     i»     t  ^  Howard. 

Grace  Church,  boston.  i  r»- 

'  '  (  DlX. 

St.  Paul's  Church,  Dedliam,  Metcalf. 

St.  Paul's  Church,  Hopkinton,  Walker. 

St.  Michael's  Church,  Marblehead,  Russel. — 5. 

*  The  case  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Goodwin  was  one  indicating  a  sense  of  honor,  or  rather  a 
tenderness  of  conscience,  not  often  met  witli.  Because  at  the  time  of  the  elections  he 
thought  thein  unconstitutional,  and  did  not  say  so,  he  felt  hound  to  sustain  them. 

t  The  Rev.  Mr.  Haskins,  though  a  member  of  the  Convention,  also  declined  voting, 
from  a  very  commendable  delicacy,  on  the  ground  that  he  had  been  for  some  months  tem- 
porarily absent  in  Rhode  Island.  We  are  sorry  that  aU  the  delicacy  should  have  been  on 
one  side. 


43 


Jigaiiist  the  indefinite  postponement, 
Trinity  Church,  Boston, 

Christ  Church,  Boston, 

Christ  Churcii,  Cambridge, 

St.  Stephen's  Church,  Pittsfield, 


Apthorp. 
'  Bacon, 
[  Wilson, 
'  Ingraham. 
'  Foster. 

E.  A.  Newton. — 4. 


On  the  motion  of  Dr.  Morss,  and  the  amendment  of  Col.  Apthorp,  which 
was  in  tlie  words  following : 

'  Whereas,  npon  an  ex.Tmination  of  the  Constitution  of  this  Convention,  it  appears  that 
the  elections,  made  yesterday,  of  the  Standing  Committee,  and  delegates  to  the  General 
Convention,  to  be  held  in  New  York,  in  October  next,  were  irregular,  the  same  are  hereby 
declared  null  and  void ;  and  it  is  therefore  voted  to  proceed  to  a  new  choice  of  a  Standing 
Committee  and  delegates,  for  the  purpose  aforesaid,  in  a  constitutional  mnnner.' 

— the  votes  were  as  follows  : 

For  the  resolution  and  amendment. 

The  Rev.  Messrs.  Ballard,  Blaisdale, 

Blake,  Boyle, 

Croswell,  Doane, 

Eaton,  Everett, 

Jones,  Morss, 

Potter,  Price, 

Strong,  Wells. — 14. 

Against  them. 

The  Rev.  Messrs.  Baury,  Edson, 

Fenner,  Goodwin, 

Hopkins,  E.  Munro, 

M.  Munro,  Stone. — 8. 

— or,  counting,  as  before,  the  votes  of  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Goodwin  and 
Haskins,  where  they  properly  belonged,  in  the  affirmative,  the  virtual 
strength  of  the  Clerical  part  of  the  house  was  divided,  16  against,  and 
7  for,  the  elections. 

Of  the  Lay  Delegation  the  votes  were. 
For  the  resolution  and  amendment, 
Trinity  Church,  Boston, 

Christ  Church,  Boston, 
St.  Stephen's  Church,  Pittsfield, 
Against  them, 

St.  Paul's  Church,  Boston, 

Grace  Church,  Boston, 

St.  Paul's  Church,  Dedham. 
St.  Peter's  Church,  Salem, 
St.  Paul's  Church,  Hopkinton, 


Apthorp. 

Bacon, 

Ingraham. 

E.  A.  Newton. 


C  Codman, 
<  Dunn, 
(  Davis. 
C  Howard, 

I  DiY. 

Metcalf. 
Howard. 
Walker.- 


In  other  words,  taking  the  whole  house,  the  votes,  reckoning  the  lay 
delegation,  (as  the  constitution  provides,)  by  parishes,  the  elections  were 
declared  unconstitutional  by  a  vote,  virtually,  of  19  to  12,  and,  actually,  of 
17  to  13.     Or,   even   taking   the  whole   house   by   individual   votes   the 

ELECTIONS  WERE    STILT.    DECLARED    UNCONSTITUTIONAL,  BY  A  VOTE,  VIRTU- 


44 


ALLY,     OF     TWENTY     TO     FIFTEEN,     AND,    ACTUALLY,    OF    EIGHTEEN    TO     Sli' 

TEEN.* 

We  have  no  more  to  say.  We  have  stated  these  things  because  they 
were  true;  and  because,  being  true,  they  ought  to  be  so  knowrn.  We 
have  confined  ourselves  to  facts.  We  impugn  no  man's  motives.  A 
great  wrong  has  been  done,  both  to  individuals,  and  the  Church.  Meas- 
ures and  modes  of  action  have  been  introduced  into  her  councils  which 
should  never  have  been  known  there.  And  the  charge  of  party  operations 
was  advanced,  even  before  the  session  had  ended,  against  those  who,  as 
we  have  shown,  acted  throughout  on  general  principles,  and  in  the  spirit 
of  compromise.  The  statement  thus  made  places  the  charge  where  it 
should  lie.  "  Our  withers  are  unwrung." — We  have  now  done  with  the 
subject.  Perhaps  forever.  We  had  resolved  never  to  be  engaged  in  such 
a  controversy.  We  were  drawn  into  it  by  surprise.  We  shall  not  be  sur- 
prised again.  Could  we  have  suffered  without  involving  the  interests  of 
the  Church,  we  should  have  suffered  in  silence.  We  could  not;  and  we 
have  deemed  firmness  of  action  and  plainness  of  speech  our  bounden  duty. 
We  have  done  no  more  than  Paul,  who  at  Antioch  withstood  Peter  to  the 
face,  because  he  was  to  be  blamed.  If  there  are  any,  to  whom  the  truth  is 
troublesome,  we  can  only  say,  that  for  the  past  the  blame  is  upon  them- 
selves, and  advise  them  for  the  future  to  keep  out  of  the  way  of  it.  There 
is  nothing  proper  to  be  done  that  is  not  proper  to  be  known.  That  which 
it  was  not  proper  to  do,  being  done,  should  be  made  known,  that  it  be  not 
done  again.  Eeer]f  one  that  doeth  evil  hatetk  the  light,  lest  his  deeds  should 
be  reproved.  But  he  that  doeth  truth  cometh  to  the  light,  that  his  deeds  may 
be  made  manifest  that  they  are  wrought  in  God. 


*  The  only  evasion  of  this  arithmetical  argument,  that  we  can  imagine,  wrill  be  found 
in  the  allegation,  that  some  were  absent  on  the  second  day,  who  would  have  sustained  the 
elections.  We  reply,  that  it  was  still  the  Convention  duly  in  session,  and  the  Clerical 
members  absent  had  no  leave  of  absence.  We  answer  farther,  that  others,  who  would 
have  voted  against  the  elections,  were  also  absent  ;  some  of  whom  were  present  in  the 
morning,  and,  had  the  slightest  intimation  been  given,  would  have  been  present  in  the 
afternoon. — We  make  one  more  remark, — several  of  the  contested  elections  were  by  a 
tnajority  of  one  vote  .' 


,  GAYLORD  BROS.  Ir 
I  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

Stoclton,  Calif. 


BX5918.M4H7 

Defence  of  the  convention  of  the 

Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00020  5601 


